Hunt and be Hunted
by AdamineTerra
Summary: <html><head></head>Twelve years into the past was quite a different place for the Raijinshuu and Laxus. Now that Laxus is an S class mage, the gang can go on much more difficult missions, but when the first mission they take has them finding a young woman coated with battle wounds, the group finds themselves sheltering someone who is not what she appears. Who is she and why is she being hunted?</html>
1. Weary Traveler

**Yahoo! I was finally able to come up with the beginning of my Adamine Terra stories! For those of you who don't know my beloved OC, that's completely fine! Why? Because this is the beginning, the real beginning which takes place twelve years into the past before the Tenrou Freeze and before Lucy Heartfilia was a member of Fairy Tail.**

**I hope that you all enjoy my story of Adamine Terra and how she met the Raijinshuu and Laxus in the first place. If you want to get to know Adamine, I suggest you check out my page on Deviant Art and my other stories on her. Images of her are up on Deviant Art under my account name AdamineTerra. Huh. That sounds oddly familiar. Also, my stories on her are titled ****_Tablet and a Tome _****and the final in my series ****_Magical Massacre._**

**Please enjoy and leave me a review. I love hearing from you, but I'm sure you hear that all the time.**

**Now! We shall begin...**

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><p>Weary Traveler<p>

The air was nothing but pure heat as a woman made her way through the forest. She was damaged. She was broken. She was prey. As her mouth swallowed saliva, painfully coating the inside of her arid throat, Adamine just kept trudging on. She had lived through the battle, and she had to keep going.

Black Pearl, her beloved comrade and the only one she trusted in the whole world, was gone. Forever. Adamine had seen it happen when her body had been flung back by a wild creature. Pearl had gone flying into the opposite direction. Adamine had heard the definitive crack of bone when Pearl had crashed into thorns then rolled into a raging river.

She would never forget the way Pearl had disappeared off the ledge. Adamine would never forgive herself for letting Pearl die right in front of her. She was her beloved Hellhound, a companion irreplaceable by time or company. Now, though, she was gone.

No. No. No! She couldn't be gone. Black Pearl had to have survived that attack. There was no way. Tears streamed down Adamine's face as she tried to battle the horrible facts that crushed her pulsating heart.

The teen pushed her walking stick into dirt and kept trudging onwards. She would find Pearl at the bottom of this embankment. Pearl would be hurt but alive. She couldn't die from whatever had attacked them. Even if she wasn't there, Adamine wouldn't stop looking. Adam wouldn't stop looking, and she'd get revenge on that beast even if she had to fight it with a broken leg and blood running down her flesh.

A sharp pain ran up Adamine's broken leg, and she looked down. The sight nearly gagged her. Legs were not supposed to bend that way. Oh, Firmalione, this was a sick, sick sight. Adamine didn't know what she would do if she wasn't a dragon slayer.

The only reason she was able to walk was because she had turned her leg adamantine to support her limping gait. She hobbled forward with determination in her damp, emerald eyes.

In front of her was a long dirt road. Behind her was a group of hunters who would surely try to capture her in this state. Adamine pulled her hood further over her face to shield the scalding sunlight then trudged on.

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><p><em>Lost Stretch of a Forested Road<em>

"We're lost," Evergreen proclaimed, her black flats floating above the dirt path. She was using her Fairy Magic to give herself wings. There was no way she was walking on that nasty road in these new shoes.

"We're not lost. We're just taking a detour," Freed defended. In his hands was a map, an upside down map. He kept tilting it this way and that before finally putting his finger of a portion of it. "See! Look. We're right here! If we just keep following this path then we'll be at Akane Beach in no time."

Laxus cast the two bickering mages a particularly droll glance before turning his music up. With his hands behind his head, he ignoring them all. It was obvious he didn't care whether they were lost or not.

Bickslow wasn't concerned either. His totem babies hovered cheerfully around him. Besides, if they stayed lost, then maybe the creature that had been terrorizing the villages nearby would sniff them out. It would save them having to find it on their own.

He cracked a grin at that then looked at Freed and Evergreen. There were two things that they kept secret from everyone in the guild. Well, actually, no. There was just one, but Evergreen got embarrassed if you pointed out the other one. Number one was that Freed, though being strategic and intelligent, had absolutely zero sense of direction. Number two was that Evergreen despised being in the forest at night. She would go camping, but only if she had the luxuries of the indoors outdoors. Why? She hate, hate, hated big, crunchy bugs. It was why Bickslow threw them at her every chance he got.

While instigating the argument between Evergreen and Freed, he couldn't have been more at ease until something caught his attention. "Oi! What's that over there?" he stated abruptly, catching the bickering fairies off guard.

A woman was sporting a tattered cloak. With the hood up, Bickslow could only acknowledge that she was hunched over and weak. She used a walking stick she must have found somewhere along the road. Probably an old woman. Wait. What was an old, crippled woman doing walking out in the woods alone?

Bickslow tilted his head in thought. Yeah, something about that wasn't right.

Ever's hands clapped together as she chimed, "A little old lady! She can tell us where we need to go to get out of this place!" Using her wings, she eagerly flew over to the woman in the tattered rags. "Ma'am, hello. We need your help to find our way out of this forest. Could you please tell us where to-" Her gloved hands covered her mouth, and she halted in her tracks.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Freed questioned, stepping beside Evergreen only to gawk the same way she was doing.

Alright, now he was curious. Stepping forward, Bickslow put his red gaze to the… young girl. Her body was supported by a staff, but it was coated in bruises and claw marks. A stream of blood trickled down the side of her face. Her green eyes were puffy and swollen from tears streaming downwards, but instead of baring a hopeless expression, her teeth were gritted down. Little fangs gleamed in the setting sunlight.

"Hey! What's everyone staring at," Laxus asked, completely oblivious to the woman and ten steps ahead of the group. He walked back to them.

The girl's body leaned too hard against her crutch. Her entire form went toppling over until Laxus quickly snagged her from hitting the dirt. "What the hell?" he breathed when the hood the girl was wearing fell from her face.

After recovering from his initial shock, he tossed her girl like a sack over his shoulder. "We need to get her to a village quick. Looks like her leg's broke."

Instead of falling limply against Laxus's back, the girl seemed to come alive. She kicked with her one good leg and sunk her claws into Laxus's abdomen. They shred through the golden-brown fabric of his shirt, and his headphones fell to the dirt as she flailed.

"Let me go! Let me go!" the sudden wildcat howled as she writhed to get free of Laxus's hold. After kneeing him in the back, she was accidentally thrown to the ground. Her body landed with a painful thud, and an ear bursting wail of pain erupted from her pale pink lips.

Even as Laxus gripped the sides of his head, he snarled, "That's why you shouldn't be fighting me!" He got down on his knees to pull the woman's cloak away from her body.

Now that she cloak was opened, he sucked in a breath at the sight. The girl's clothes were just as brutalized as her cloak had been. From the amount of skin showing, the group noticed deep gashes along her chest. One claw mark ran from her breasts to her waistline. Crimson made a stream down her body. Whatever had gotten a hold of her definitely didn't want to let go.

"Leave me alone!" she hissed, trying to get up. "I have to find that thing. I don't need your help!" The young woman, who couldn't have been any older than Evergreen and Freed, fumbled around until she could reach the ground. With one hand she tried to bend her good leg to stand. It only wound up making tears of pain roll down her face.

Still, she was determined, and when she glared up at Bickslow with those big, green eyes, he felt something. Something like connection. He ignored the feeling and got down towards the girl. His babies followed him.

"S-Seith mage?" she breathed when she saw his totems flying around his head. "You can see souls…"

She was about to say more, but Bickslow raised the visor over his eyes. Using his Figure Eyes, he got his hands inside of her soul, and with a single word her entire body went limp. Still, that feeling of connection lingered. When he had been in control over her soul, it had hit him hard. For some reason, he felt like he knew this girl.

Still, he ignored it. "Is there a village anywhere on that map, Freed?"

The rune mage glanced towards the map that had gone forgotten in his tight grip. "Uh. Yeah. Well, no actually."

Laxus snapped, "Which one is it? Yes or no?"

"It's a resort. I believe we're close to Akane."

Laxus snatched the map up when Freed held it out to him. His sense of direction wasn't much better than anyone else's, but it was a thousand times more reliable than Freed's. He slapped his hand against the parchment. "Akane Resort it is."

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><p><strong>Ah, I just love the idea of Freed having no sense of direction. I feel like it would make sense because he is always on top of everything else.<strong>

**Oh! For those of you that have read my other stories, I want to know your opinions of how I interpret a younger Adamine. Good? Bad? Meh?**

**It's all up to you on how this story continues because although I would like to think of myself as the Fountain of Inspiration, I sadly am not.**


	2. Smells like Home

Smells like Home

Bickslow kept careful watch over the girl laying in the bed. Everyone else was asleep in their rooms, but there was still that feeling he couldn't shake. It was the feeling that he knew her. It had kept him tossing and turning in the middle of the night, and after a moment, he gave into temptation.

So, here he was sitting in the hospital attached to the resort the rest of the group was in and staring at the swell of her breasts as they rose and fell beneath the thin sheet.

Now that all of the blood and dirt was cleaned from her face, Bickslow could see flawless pale skin. She had thick, spikey lashes that got longer as they fanned away from her nose. He knew that beneath those eyelids were emerald eyes that could intimidate and strike fear. Right now though, the girl asleep on the bed didn't look like she could harm a fly. She looked perfectly at peace.

Her pink rose lips were parted, and Bickslow noticed she had emerald lacrima around her neck, wrists, and ankles. He could see he latter bulging at the bottom of the bed. She also had emerald lacrima on a chain dangling from her ears.

The nurses had originally tried to take them off of her, but she had quickly refused them. Even when Bickslow had thought that she was out cold, she had flashed her frightening eyes open to lay the cold, green orbs on the nurse touching her leather choker. She had threatened, "Do it and die" before her head had fallen back. She had probably just said that in her sleep, but the nurses never touched her accessories again.

Bickslow's eyes narrowed as he continued to look her over. There was something familiar about her lacrima. Something about the many spikes and waves that were in her messy hair reminded him of someone. The more he looked at her, the more he felt like a fog was lifting over his past.

He assumed that made sense. Bickslow wasn't originally from Fiore. He was from a kingdom called Lancet. Only knew that because he could speak the dead language of Lance. It was a kingdom that was riddled with war and strife. Mages and people who couldn't wield magic were at war with each other. Had been for years.

When he was around twelve years old, he had gotten woken up in the middle of the night by his father, a father whose name Bickslow had forgotten.

_"__They're here, Bix," came a rushed hiss of a whisper._

_"__They? Who's they?"_

_"__The army."_

Bickslow had all the memories, but he lacked the names of the people that played in his mind. Still, he could remember the fear in his heart as his father threw a bag full of clothes and supplies at his son. They had ran to the bottom of a guild whose name wouldn't come to mind then Bickslow had been shoved down an escape hatch where more children were put.

Bickslow distinctly remembered looking for someone. A girl. He had been calling out her name when one of the adults of the guild had taken them through an underground passageway that led to another house. They had taken carriages and wagons before finally coming to an old shipyard. All of the children had boarded the ship. Each child had been touched on the forehead as they'd entered the ship. The captain of the ship had titled the spell, "Familiar Amnesia." Then, they had set sail.

He rubbed the back of his neck. Familiar Amnesia. It sounded ironic now that Bickslow thought about the title. Still, it hadn't erased the memories. It had just erased the names and faces. Bickslow had forgotten his own last name that day… Was this girl one of the children he'd gotten ushered out of the kingdom with?

The girl tossed in her sleep, and Bickslow nearly jumped in his seat. Oh. Good. She was still asleep.

"Pearl," she whispered in her sleep. Was that her name or the name of a friend?

It didn't send any feeling of familiarity through him, so he guessed that it was just a friend.

Bickslow took a step closer to the girl. He didn't really know what compelled him to do it, but he did. He crouched down in front of her and was just about to reach out to touch one of the wild waves that covered her face from his line of sight when she flashed her eyes open.

The old woman who turned out to be a fifteen year old girl laid staring up at him from the bed. "K-knight?" she breathed in reference to his attire, and he had to crack a grin. She was staring at him like he was some kind of hero or something, and he wasn't even the one who'd carried her here.

"Damn, girl. If you want me in that bed with you, you could just ask," he commented, pleased by the hot red flush running from her cleavage to her forehead. He'd bet that underneath all that wild hair the top of her skull was rosy red as well.

Instead of hiding behind the blankets or screaming that he was some kind of pervert, she snarled at him with those strange fangs of hers. _Suddenly, her body erupted from the bed. Her skin was covered in just a pair of boy short plaid underwear with a matching bra, but Bickslow didn't even get a chance to comment on said attire for his body was slammed backwards by the tiny female. Still, he did get a nice flash of her abdomen. It was rigid with a beautifully sculpted six pack and smooth all the way down._

"You'll never take me back there!" she screeched. Her fist would have come crashing down on his visor had one of his babies not taken the blow for him. The totem flew back, and there was a short moment of confusion in her big eyes. The strange female hopped off him like he was on fire then spun on her heel.

Her knee attempted to give out from beneath her, but then the strangest thing happened. Her crumpling leg turned to a diamond shimmering gemstone. Dragon slayer magic?

"Wait! You're not getting away that easy!" Bickslow snapped back at her. He sent his totems out to block her escape to the window. The four little guys made an X with their wooden bodies.

Her mouth twisted into a nasty snarl, and Bickslow had to part his lips at the sight of her hand morphing before his very eyes. That same gemstone shell that coated her leg was now covering up her hand. Instead of coating it over for defense, her nails lengthened out into diamond shining talons. They came slashing down across Bickslow's babies. He was about to order them to attack, but the flash of Freed's runes shimmered against the open window. Ah. Leave it to Freed to secure a room.

"The hell," she breathed. Her talons were tossed backwards with a powerful force, and she snarled at the runes, reading them. "Magic. Magic? Y-you aren't E-E-Exile. Are you?" Her body whipped back around. All of the fiery determination that had engulfed her face was gone. Replaced by wide eyes that glistened with fear.

What the hell was wrong with this chick? Pissed off one second. Scared the next. What kind of madness had she gone through to make her so strange?

Bickslow didn't get the opportunity to ask.

The door slammed open, ricocheting off of the wall, and the rest of the Raijinshuu entered. "What's going on in here?" Laxus roared. His deep voice bounced off of the walls. It was a sound that should have intimidated. Instead, it looked like it just pissed the strange girl off.

She bared her fangs at Laxus even as she backed up against the wall like a cornered animal. "Who are you people? What do you want with me? I will not go back there! Damn it! Never. I will never go back there!" Under the moonlight the teenager's gaze flickered. They glowed like the eyes of a beast. Flashing from steady emerald to reflective neon.

It was then that Bickslow got a flash of something from underneath the veil of the girl's skin. Her vibrant green soul was encased in something large and grey. A sight like a tail wrapped around her leg. Two talons rested on her shoulders, and a dragon's blazing emerald eyes stared directly into Bickslow. That was it. This girl was freaking weird, and it took a lot for Bickslow to say that about a person.

Laxus was a dragon slayer, Natsu as well, but Bickslow had never seen something like this inside of their bodies. It was big. It was powerful, and it stared Bickslow right through his skin and into his spirit. Was that the sense of connection? Could she see his soul?

Freed abruptly stole the spotlight. With his hands raised up and far away from his sword, Freed approached the female. He would have looked like a guy trying to tame a wild animal if not for the hot scarlet blush running up his face and throat. Bickslow had guessed Freed was a virgin, but this was some kind of entertaining.

"Hey, there. You're safe here. We aren't going to do anything to you. Okay. Just sit down and let's talk about this. We just want to see you heal better," Freed urged. He looked particularly gentle as he stopped just a few feet from the dragon spirited woman.

She backed her body even tighter to the wall. With her body standing on the bed, Bickslow could see her lacrima were glowing just as much as her eyes were. "I'm fine where I'm at," she growled. Her eyes looked at Bickslow, Evergreen, and Laxus with red hot malice. "Tell me! Who are you people and… and how come you can use magic?"

"Magic?" Freed wondered beneath his breath. "We're mages from Fairy Tail. It's a guild for mages. I'm Freed. The people with me are Evergreen, Laxus, and Bickslow. We found you on the road and wanted to help you."

"And now we realize that it was a big waste of time," Evergreen scoffed. She rolled her eyes and was going to look away from the woman until she caught a glimpse of her shimmering leg. "Stone?"

The diamond scaled female scowled at Evergreen then focused her attention back on Freed. "A guild? From Lancet?" Although her body was still plastered to the wall, she was looking a bit more relaxed. The claws that had been digging ruts into the wall were now just flat. The talons on her fingertips had faded back to smooth skin.

"No. You're in the kingdom Fiore."

"Fiore… we crossed an ocean… but…" The girl finally straightened up and crossed her femininely muscled arms beneath her plump breasts, giving them a tantalizing lift. Freed's blush deepened. "Where are we in Fiore?"

"Akane resort. You collapsed on a road a few miles out, and we brought you in." As if he couldn't help himself, he enthusiastically added, "Our leader, Laxus carried you here himself."

"Laxus?" She tilted her head then moved her eyes over to the blonde who was taking this exchange with shielded curiosity. "You smell strange."

While Freed was trying not to fall over from the insult and Bickslow and Evergreen were trying to keep their jaws from hitting the floor, the stranger hopped lightly from the bed to get right up into Laxus's face.

***(Line Break)***

Adamine leaned up on her tiptoes to take in the scent that had calmed her. No. It wasn't the words of the green haired man named Freed. It wasn't his promise that they were here to help her. It was the scent coming off of this tall blonde. He smelt like a midnight storm.

His skin smelt like the leaves after they'd been kissed with chaotic rain. He smelt of thunder and light but most importantly he smelled like home. Not her Lancet home but her dragon's den. He smelt like her mother, Firmalione.

Eagerly, she leaned closer to the blonde haired male. Her nose was mere centimeters from touching his lightly sun kissed neck, but Adamine hadn't smelt this scent in so long. It brought back the memories of why she'd been travelling ever since the fire.

"C-could you please refrain from doing that," Freed broke in, and Adamine whipped her head around. Her long, chaotic hair swept against the blonde man's throat, but she didn't care.

With determined eyes she said, "I am free to go." The words weren't a question. If anything, they sounded like a demand.

Freed woodenly nodded his head, but it was Laxus who spoke up. He put a hand on Adamine's shoulder. "Not so fast. You haven't said thank you or given us your name. Besides, we need to question you about-"

Adamine's fist came into direct contact with Laxus's jawline, and while the strange mages all turned white at her reaction, this Laxus just snagged her hand by the wrist. Adamine jerked back. "I am not your prisoner! I will never be anyone's prisoner ever again! You will let me leave!" she growled. Her knee came up. Before it could make contact, electricity sparked all around the blonde's body.

Lips parted, she breathed, "Dragon slayer."

"Yeah. I'm a dragon slayer, and trust me the last thing I want is a crazy chick hanging around me all day. Got enough of those already. You're going to tell us all about what happened to you then we'll let you do whatever it was you were doing before we found you."

Adamine's eyes narrowed. She hated demands. She hated orders. But… she felt herself yielding. This male was the first she'd ever come across that used magic like hers. Maybe, he knew something of her mother?

"I will not give you information if you don't do the same."

**Note: If anyone noticed that Bickslow had fewer totems, that was intentional. I did not miscount.**

**Thank you for reading. Leave some comments if something comes to mind.**


	3. Stoner

Stoner

Adamine sat tensely in front of the mages that had apparently rescued her. As much as she hated to admit it, they had probably saved her from a far worse fate. Adamine could only imagine what would have happened to her if _they_ had found her. Inwardly, she shivered. She couldn't let them find her. Also, she had to get back to Pearl.

Her scent had gotten lost on the trail before Adamine had collapsed. She'd been following a powerful track until suddenly it had stopped. Like a portal had opened and swallowed Black Pearl up. That had given Adamine hope. She knew Black Pearl was out there. She just needed to find where the portal had taken her.

Still, she needed to know where portals were in this kingdom. She knew the many secret passageways in her strife ridden kingdom of Lancet, but Fiore was foreign to Adamine. She couldn't remember anything. Details were fuzzy in her mind. She remembered swimming to a portal at the bottom of pond. She remembered rescuing a small dog from a band of beasts then everything melded together. She had memories, but they were hazy.

Smelling Laxus had cleared up some of that haze, but something else had as well. It came from the Seith Mage who had been staring at her. Well, at least, she thought he was staring at her. It felt like it, but Adamine couldn't tell a damned thing from the stupid visor he wore.

She wanted to pry that piece of metal off his face to see just what he was hiding from her. He was the only one who covered his whole face in this group. The green haired mage had half of his face covered with his hair. The brunette sported glasses that made her look like a librarian. Only the dragon slayer kept his face uncovered.

Adamine understood hiding her face. The tattoo that had been branded upon her face ten years ago, the one that branded her as a servant of the Priests, was hidden behind a spell, but Adamine didn't cover her face. She just hid the tattooed skin with a glamour that veiled the ink.

That marking was why she was here. Why she'd been running from Lancet all these years. With a determined expression, Adamine looked towards the mages before her. It was time to start the questioning.

The green haired mage was the first to begin. He started, "What is your name?"

"Adamine Terra."

Freed then asked, "How did you wind up in Fiore?"

"I'm not sure, really. I had been on the run from a band of mages for a while. Somehow, I must have wound up on a ship sailing to Fiore. A spell was cast on me before I came here. It hid my memories. The only things that I know are how to use my magic, that my mother is a dragon named Firmalione, and a few shanties the pirates used to sing. That's why I think I came on a ship." And, that wasn't even half of it. The things that Adamine knew. The people. The destruction. It made her wince. She would not tell such precious details to these people.

"How convenient. She can sing shanties but has no memories," Evergreen grumbled. That woman was draped over a chair next to Laxus. Her hand rested underneath her head, and she was looking at Adamine like she was some kind of threat.

Adam had to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at the girl. "What about you then? Why are you in Akane?" she wondered.

Looking proud of herself, Evergreen leaned up on the arm of the chair. She mentioned, "We're here to hunt down a beast that has been terrorizing this village. Probably the same creature that had gotten you. You're just lucky that we saved you before it decided to come back."

"You sure?" Adamine countered. "You don't look like you could take down an eight foot tall manticore. I bet that you'd take one look at it and run away screaming like a little school girl."

"Oh, yeah," Evergreen growled. "I bet that it would have gobbled you up like midday snack while you cried for your mommy dragon to come save you."

Adamine took a step closer towards the glasses wearing girl. This chick had been on her case ever since Adamine had woken up an hour ago. When they'd been getting breakfast, Adamine had felt those cold eyes boring holes into her back while she'd sat at the end of the table eating her meal. Adam didn't know what she did to get on this girl's bad side, but the feeling was mutual.

Evergreen pulled herself up off the chair to meet Adam in the middle where the furniture made a circle. Standing chest to chest they stared each other down. The tension between them seemed to spark like lightning as Adamine and Evergreen bared their fangs at each other.

"How about we go find it and see?" Adamine challenged.

"Sure you can go back into the woods without hiding behind a bush?"

"Oh. I'm sure. Do you think you can go without hiding behind one of your comrades?"

"I know I can. I just want to see the look on your face when the big monster comes back to eat you."

"Wanna take this outside, school girl?"

Suddenly, someone started cheering, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Both women turned their eyes on the armored mage.

"You stay out of this!" the two of them snapped before looking even more pissed off that they'd spoken in unison.

"Don't copy me," they growled.

"You don't copy me!" they both snarled again.

"I'll seal that mouth shut if you copy me one more time," Evergreen threatened.

"I'd like to see you try."

Evergreen's hands went to her glasses. Adamine's hands turned to gemstone. Magic flowed wildly around the two until Laxus interrupted, "Enough! Ever, sit back down! We need her to tell us more about this… manticore." He said the word slowly as if he'd never heard it before.

With a flippant huff Evergreen swung her wavy hair then plopped back down into her seat. Adamine on the other hand was glaring down the female. She wanted to finish what she'd started, but Bickslow's complaint of "Damn, I wanted to see a chick fight" stopped her.

She turned her glower on him then slouched back onto the sofa. The last thing Adamine wanted to do was entertain anyone who resembled a knight in any way shape or form, and although the shoulders of his armor showed skulls instead of silver, just seeing that helmet brought back painful memories of the army.

Laxus cleared his throat in an irritated manner. He seemed so confidant, so general like. Laxus was obviously the leader of these idiots. Minus Freed. He was cool. But just him. "You can start by telling us what a manticore is."

"A manticore is an animal from Lancet. I don't know what one of them would be doing here, but it had attacked my friend and me when we were trying to figure out what city we were in. For a visual think about a chimera. Manticore have the body of a lion, wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. They were made when a mage's experiment went wrong and live in arid regions. It doesn't surprise me that one of them would be near a beach." Adamine's eyes narrowed and she swung her head towards Laxus. "Don't even think of laying a finger on it either. That cat is mine. It hurt my best friend, and I'm going to return the favor."

A grin crept up the armored mage's face, but Adamine ignored it. The way he studied her was weird. He looked at her like she was some kind of experiment. Adamine had been through enough looks like that to know he couldn't be trusted. Freed and Laxus seemed fine enough though. Freed appeared scholarly and smelt like books. Laxus smelt like home and possessed a dominant dragon's essence. The other two didn't smell so pleasant. Evergreen reeked of arrogance and Bickslow smelt of dark mischief.

Still, there was something about him that seemed vaguely familiar. More than just the armor. Perhaps, if she could just get a look at his face and see. She should spy on him to figure out what it was. Firmalione had always told her that curiosity killed foolish cats not cunning dragons.

"Sorry, girlie, but we're getting paid for pest control. No deal there," Bickslow commented. His sly grin was still up his face, and Adamine scowled at it.

A human thought to take a dragon's kill. Hilarious. No. Really. Adamine's stoic face was laughing on the inside. She cast him a sly grin of her own. "Sorry, Soul Sucker, but you're going to have to get through me to get to that manticore. Revenge before profit."

Suddenly, the man's tongue came rolling out of his mouth as he let out a maniacal laugh. "I like this girl. Laxus, can we keep her?" The totems around him cheered, "Keep her! Keep her!"

"No," Laxus seemed to groan. "We're getting rid of her after she shows us where the manticore attacked last."

"What?" Adamine shrieked. She thrust her hand down on the coffee table. "No way! That manticore is mine! I'll let you have the body and the glory, but let me at least beat it to a bloody pulp first!"

Bickslow abruptly came up behind her and pouted, "Yeah, Laxus. Come on. She just wants to beat it to a bloody pulp!" He seemed to look around the room for support. Apparently, he'd found it in Evergreen. He added, "Besides, this will let Ever see her get beat up by the manticore! We can embarrass the stoner _and_ get paid. What part of that is a bad idea?"

Evergreen suddenly piped up. "Yeah, Laxus! I want to see her beg us to save her when she gets attacked again."

Freed whispered, "Everyone's so bloodthirsty today. Whatever Laxus decides I will agree with."

Adamine frowned. "Stoner? Where the hell did you come up with that, Tongue Boy?"

"Tongue Boy?" Freed mumbled, shaking his head.

Bickslow's hands came down on Adamine's shoulders and he cheered, "See, Laxus. She's perfect! Just let her get smacked around a bit, and we can show her how a fight is supposed to end."

Underneath Bickslow's hands, Adamine stiffened. No one ever touched her. She had to keep from taking his hands and flipping him on his back. This was a tense moment. She needed Laxus to believe that she would fail, to let him think that he was going to get some kind of entertainment out of Adamine's battle for revenge. Oh, she would give them entertainment, but it wouldn't be from her humiliation. It would be from her revenge.

Laxus grimaced. Apparently, everyone wanted to see the stoner get tossed. Huh. Stoner. That did have a good sound to it, especially since that was her slaying magic. He would have to add that one to his collection of insults.

More importantly though, Laxus wanted to get a measure on the stranger's strength. She had caught him off guard with her right hook earlier. He wanted to see what she really fought like. It would be dumb to go into a fight without knowing what to expect. Adamine could give them the upper hand. While she fought the _whatever-it-was_, he would be studying its attacks then coming in when it looked like the stoner was down for the count. It made sense.

Finally, he agreed, "Fine. Sounds good to me."


	4. Beast Slayer

Beast Slayer

The smell of the outdoors smacked Adamine in the face. It had been so long since the last time she'd been inside of a building that she'd forgotten how much they diluted the wonderful scents of nature. Now, though, Adamine felt even more at ease.

This was her element. This was where she belonged. Not in the human filled resort where people dressed in flowered shirts and beach shorts. Adamine belonged in a world where gemstones were buried beneath fertile soil. She belonged in dark forests and expansive cave systems. She did not belong in a place filled with roller coasters that made her drool to ride one.

They had looked like massive dragon spines. The people on them had cried out in adrenaline. Adamine had totally wanted to go to the amusement park as they called it, but she couldn't. Not until she could take Pearl with her. Black Pearl would have loved those rides, and Adamine could have tested out all of the strange food that she'd seen when she and the group had left the resort. There was a strange puffy food that especially called to Adamine. It smelt of straight sugar.

She cast her eyes down. Pearl loved sugar. When they had last been in Lancet together, the two of them had bought tiny sugar crystals called rock candy. They'd been wired for the rest of the day after eating ten of those.

Well then, that just meant that Adamine would have to go find Black Pearl and buy her more sugar. Once she defeated the manticore and got some information out of it, she would start searching for portals. She still hadn't asked the people who called themselves Raijinshuu or Laxus about portals. Out of the group, Adam was sure that Freed would know the most about them, but Adamine didn't want to have to show her curiosity any more than necessary.

She had to keep distant from these people. Adamine had learned her lesson months ago. When she'd come to a small farm in the middle of nowhere, Adamine had worked with a young girl and her grandmother. Then… _they_ had shown up.

The group of Lancet mages had snatched up the girl and threatened to kill her if Adamine didn't give herself up. The gang hadn't seen her Wing Slash of the Adamantine Dragon soon enough. After she'd disbanded the group, the grandmother had paid Adamine in a strange, foreign currency. The first hint to Adamine that she wasn't in Lancet anymore.

Adamine glanced over the group. These guys weren't some young girl and her elderly grandmother. These were mages. Mages that wanted her prey. They could handle themselves, but it didn't mean that Adamine should trust them.

She needed to get out of here and on her way to Magnolia. It was the closest large city according to the map she had, but the fastest way to get there would be to take the train from Hargeon. Immediately, Adamine's stomach protested. Yeah, she would go there one foot and travel through the woods to get there. She just wished she had Pearl to help her.

"How much longer till we get there, Stoner?" Bickslow commented. His odd totems repeated her new nickname.

Adamine's head whipped around, sending her wavy hair flying. "Once I find its scent, I'll track it until we come up on it, Tongue Boy. Could take hours. That a problem with you?"

Bickslow grinned at her with his tongue dangling out of his mouth. "Na. Not a problem at all, Stoner." His tongue waggled against his skin. Oooh. How Adamine wanted to shove one of her diamond nails through that pink flesh.

Her hair slapped against her back, and she lifted her head skyward. There was a slight breeze. If they could get behind the scent of the manticore, Adamine would be able to track it. She just had to get behind the wind.

"Do you think we should head back the way we found you?" Freed wondered, and Adamine's eyebrow twitched. She wasn't used to so many people with her when she tracked animals. It was annoying.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," she admitted gruffly. Her feet moved her down a trail of their own accord. Everyone else followed her, but Freed stood there looking at a map like it held the meaning of life.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" he asked, tilting the map.

Adamine tilted her head along with it then moved through a snobby brunette and a quite blonde. Once she'd gotten to Freed's side, she saw the problem. Her hand reached out and turned the map. Placing a finger on the trail, she explained, "We're here. Not here."

Freed looked at her as if she was a magician, pure awe.

Giving a shrug, Adam continued to lead the group. When a familiar scent crossed her nose, she dropped to her hands and feet. With her nose to the ground, Adamine sniffed out the scent of the manticore.

Her inner dragon came alive at the scent. Yes. The manticore had been here, and it had gone west, the way to Hargeon. The scent was strong. If she didn't follow it quick, she'd lose it. Without a word Adamine dashed off in the direction of the scent.

"What the hell?" Laxus breathed before storming after her.

"Did the idiot sniff something out?" Evergreen wondered.

Adamine ignored their pointless comments. She was on a trail. If she had a tail, it would be wagging. If she had ears on the top of her head, they would be facing forward. Instead of that, Adamine shot forward into thick brush. She leaped over fallen logs and rotten tree trunks before coming to a bog.

Her combat boot covered feet sunk deeply into the mud, but she ignored it. Her powerful legs had been through worse than this. She had to get her hands on that manticore before it ran off without her.

Pumping her toned thighs, Adamine forced her way through the mud before someone hauled her up from the muck. Her mud coated calves were freed from slime, and she glanced behind her to see the green haired mage had sprouted rune wings. Apparently, the others could fly in some fashion as well. Bickslow stood on his totems. Evergreen had fairy wings. Laxus's body turned to lightning and shot him from patch of solid ground to patch of solid ground. He was ahead of the group and probably had caught the scent as well.

"Thank you," Adamine mumbled. "Follow Laxus. He's on a trail."

"How can you tell?" Freed wondered.

"Body language. His body is moving differently. Stealthy."

Freed looked to where Adamine's eyes were studying Laxus's body. Sure enough, the mage was stalking. His electrified form was stealthy. It prowled through the bog with muscle rippling underneath his eighteen year old body.

A strong whiff of the manticore's scent slapped Adamine upside the head and she lowly hissed, "Set me down there." Freed listened and dropped Adamine.

Her knees appeared to give out underneath her, and he was about to lift her back up until she raised a palm up. "Shh. Quiet." Freed nodded and dropped beside her. "Get down and stay quiet," she explained to the others. On all fours, Adamine slinked her way through thorny brush. Her camouflage bandana and brown leather backpack blending in amidst the shrubbery. Even her tight camo pants melded with the surrounding elements. The only things that showed in the dark bog were flashes of her pale abdomen until that was concealed in the brush.

Adamine continued to prowl through before stopping. Her sense were on high alert. They were in the enemy's territory now, and just when Adamine leaned down to her elbows against the mud, she caught sight of the manticore.

Its large body was at rest. The powerful scorpion's tail at its backside rested against the muddy earth, and its large bat wings were stretched out like a fleshy blanket atop its soft pelt. Perfect. Adamine could ambush it.

Priming her body for the attack, Adamine felt every skin cell light up with eagerness. They all yearned to change to stone, and she answered their call. Her body switched from soft skin to hard adamant, and she was just about to sneak up behind the massive beast when a sharp snapping sound had the manticore catching her where she stood.

The manticore lunged up from its resting position. Behind it, its wings flared. Adamine didn't have time to see who had snapped that twig but the sharp scent of fear and melting arrogance had Adamine assuming it was a certain brunette.

She mentally cursed. Leave it to a city slicker to ruin her hunt.

Adamine kept her body perfectly still as the manticore approached. The birds that had once been chirped were silenced. It seemed as though everything stopped breathing when hot breath ran across Adamine's skin.

The manticore's big body brushed up against her to sniff her. It brushed up against her in confusion, but when a heavy claw coated paw reached up to slap at her, Adamine went into for the kill.

Her muddy body thrust inwards, knocking the massive beast on its back. Its talon tipped wings came to scratch at her back, but Adamine gave it no quarter. Her fingers elongated into diamond tipped claws, and she snarled, "Talons of the Adamantine Dragon!"

Their attacks met at the same time. A talon imbedded into her back jut when her claws ran down its chest. The beast gave a vicious roar then swatted Adamine off it with a massive paw.

Blood ran freely from her skin and into her mouth. Spitting it into the bog, Adamine met the manticore head on. Its paw went up to swipe just as she ducked inwards. Once more she got under the beast, Adamine snagged it around the neck, and sinking two claws into its neck Adamine demanded, "Tell me what you did to Pearl!"

The manticore roared in response. It bucked with all of its might to get Adamine off, and Adamine dodged left and right to escape the poison filled tail stabbing at her back. "Wrong answer!" Adamine snarled.

Her hand curled into a fist where four bones shot from beneath the knuckles. She raked them into the manticore's tail while keeping five claws sunk in the flesh of its neck. The beast continued to pounce and roar while four shocked mages stared in awe from the brush.

Adamine's self-satisfied grin escaped no one when she released the claws from the creature's neck to break its tail. With the poison out of the way, Adamine allowed herself to be flipped off the beast. "You caught me off guard last time. It won't happen again," she explained as the two circled each other.

Keeping two clawed hands up, she stepped around. The two kept their eyes locked on each other while they sized each other up. Neither one planned on giving the other an inch but Adamine still needed to get information from the beast. When she'd demanded it to tell her, the creature had said it would never tell a filthy human.

"Come on, kitten! Scared of a wittle dragon?" Adamine taunted. Blood still ran from her face, but she paid it no mind. She would get her information.

The manticore growled low. It pounced forward, slashing with its claws. Adamine did a hasty combat roll before landing on her hands. Her body spun and she mule kicked the manticore upside the jaw. A fang rolled loose from its mighty maw. "Had enough yet?"

Still growling, the manticore came forward its body was raw power when it leaped into the air. It used its massive wings to slash downwards. Adamine was slow.

Her exposed belly was slashed with a deep gouge that had Adam wincing, but she didn't back down. Instead, Adamine shoved her foot down but in the wrong place. The bog came up to engulf her combat boot covered foot. The slick, hardy leather sucked her in deep.

Blood dripping, Adamine was nothing but a target as she fought to wriggle free of the muck. The manticore didn't slow. If anything, it saw the weakness and dove for her.

Those wings came down with a massive gust. Cursing, Adamine reached out to snatch the beast by its wing. A bolt of electricity seemed to come from nowhere. Just as Adam was about to fling the manticore into the ground for a roll in the mud, both of their bodies lit up with a golden glow.

The manticore roared in twitching pain, and Adamine tried to release the beast of a conduit. Her muscles were locked up. She could budge them, and when the bolt finally passed through the both of them, Adamine fell flat on her back. Her last words were, "Ah, shit not again."

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><p><strong>Laxus: Uh, oops.<strong>

**Adamine: I get frick fracking electrocuted by you, and all you have to say is Oops. The hell, man. The hell.**

**Ha. I hope y'all enjoyed my latest chapter of Hunt and be Hunted. Leave me a comment please! It really makes me happy to know people enjoy my work. See ya. Happy reading!**


	5. Change of Heart

**Wow. I was able to get a lot of writing done. This has been a wonderful break from school, and I hope you all enjoyed the writing I finished for you! Even though I haven't heard any remarks. Tsk. Tsk. Come on guys. Don't go breaking my heart. :)**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

* * *

><p>Change of Heart<p>

Laxus blinked. Well, that didn't go as well as planned. Uh… Oops.

Slowly, he approached the teen passed out in the mud. Her eyes were glassy and wide open. The vibrant green that flared bright when high strung was dulled and hazy. He almost feared her wrath as much as he feared the waking of the… manticore. Whatever that thing was.

It definitely wasn't native to Fiore. Laxus had traveled many places and seen many things, but it was no wonder this thing had gotten mistaken for a demon. Anyone could assume that by checking out the bat wing and scorpion tail combination on an overgrown cat. Still, Laxus wondered two things.

What was a foreign woman doing in Fiore and what was an exotic animal doing prowling outside its natural habitat?

Instead of asking questions, Laxus turned to Freed. "Can you seal the thing?"

The green haired mage appeared awestruck at Laxus's command then gave a hasty nod. Quickly, he set to work making runes in a box that encased the massive beast. With that under wraps, Laxus moved towards the least threatening of the two evils.

"Ungh. Pearl put that sledgehammer down," Adamine mumbled from her spot coated in the mud. Her hand was up in the air like she had someone in a headlock, and she was grinning despite being only partially conscious.

Laxus shook his head. Great. Another weird one. For once, could Laxus just meet one sane person on the road?

He reached down to scoop up the strange female, but just when he came within arm's length, Adamine leaped straight from the mud. Dirty water ran down her face. Her legs were in a fighter's position, and she held two fists up in front of her face. "Where's he at? Lemme at him!" Adamine barked.

Mud slithered down her six pack, and Laxus had to admit. The foreigner was hot covered in mud.

She brushed a droplet of blood that had ran down the side of her nose then halted in her bouncing. Which was honestly a shame. Her body looked good jumping like that.

"What the-" Her head turned on Laxus, and she was in front of him in an instant. Two sharply clawed hands gripped the front of his yellow shirt. Dragging him close until their chest pressed together, Adamine snarled, "I told you not to interfere! What the hell is that?" One hand released him to point a stony nail towards the rune encased manticore.

"You looked like you were losing, so I intervened," Laxus explained calmly. Typically, he would have punched anyone into next week for snatching him up like this, but he could only muster up entertainment with the female. She was… strong. Different. Most importantly strong. Laxus wanted to know more about such strength. It intrigued him.

The Raijinshuu on the other hand gaped at Adamine's audacity. Bickslow's lips were parted in shock at how a tiny woman was manhandling Laxus. Evergreen had snapped her pink fan over her mouth to hide her surprise. Freed had turned sheet white. Laxus just sneered down at her, mouth twisted in amusement and annoyance.

"If I couldn't have gotten myself out of my own mistake, I should have lost! You had no right!" Adamine released him with a huff then stomped towards the manticore. It was waking.

Powerful wings twitched inside its tiny cage. Its broken scorpion tail thumped hard against the walls. Its state seemed to bother the Stoner. She turned to Laxus. "He needs a bigger cage, you dolt. Make him a bigger one!"

Once more, Laxus snickered at her. He could take this girl with one hand tied behind his back, but she was bossing him around like she had some kind of special privilege. It was endearing. Even while his group appeared to be debating whether to attack the girl or stay in shock, Laxus said, "Freed, make the cat a bigger cage."

"Y-yes, but, Laxus, you can't keep letting this girl treat you so horribly."

"Should we teach her a lesson?" Evergreen asked, far too delighted at the prospect of fighting the slayer.

Bickslow added, "It wouldn't be a chore, Laxus." His dolls cheered their similar opinion.

Laxus studied the slayer. She had gotten on her knees in the muddy bog. Her hands were flat on the cage, and the once pacing beast seemed placid in front of her. Strange development. Could she talk to animals?

Blood still ran from open wounds in her back. It leaked into her camo jeans to add to their already ruined appearance. The jeans were beyond repair. If she was a traveler, she might not have the money to buy more. Hmm.

If Laxus kept her around, he could find out more about her. Maybe, he could convince her to join his guard. Laxus worshipped strength. It was the most important thing for a guild. Since Fairy Tail was full of half ass mages, this foreigner couldn't hurt. If anything, she would strengthen the guild. Maybe, Laxus should be a Good Samaritan and help the little female out. She would be a good addition to the Raijinshuu.

"Leave her alone. It's not often we come across someone who's strong enough to be in Fairy Tail," Laxus commented.

His group stared in disbelief. Evergreen's precious fan even fell from her suddenly limp fingers to tumble in the filthy mud she hovered over. That was not a compliment Laxus handed out lightly.

Laxus surprised them all even more when he approached Adamine. He got down beside her. The manticore's massive paw swiped his way, but he didn't even flinch. Freed's runes could hold this simple creature.

"Your presence bothers him," Adamine explained. She pressed her hand flat against the rune wall and smoothed her hand down like she was petting the manticore. "Shh," she soothed. "You're fine. He only stopped you from hurting me."

The odd lion beast seemed soothed by her words. It gave Laxus an arrogant sneer then turned its black eyes to Adamine. Huh. Sassy kitten.

"Why's he suddenly fine with you? A few seconds ago he was trying to kill you," Laxus wondered. He could still feel the Raijinshuu eavesdropping and staring in shock, but he brushed it off. Laxus had a plan for this chick.

Adamine gave Laxus an arched caramel brow. "There were mages who had brought him here. They had an article of my clothing and had taunted him with it while he was brought over by ship. When he'd gotten my scent, he'd come after me. He's fine because I told him that I would never hurt him."

"Sure. You can talk to animals. Not the weirdest thing I've come across. Why would someone tease him with your scent?"

Sudden flush crossed Adamine's pale skin, and she glanced away. She obviously lied, "I don't know. I'm just an immigrant. But, I have heard of people from Lancet… They hunt down the mages that escape from the kingdom and slaughter them for leaving."

"Uh. Huh. How did they get your clothes then?" Laxus wasn't buying her for one second.

"I-I… Maybe, they found something. I was attacked when I got off the ship. I lost my vest. They might have found it when they hit port," she dodged.

Laxus let it drop. She might be hiding it from him now, but Laxus would find out soon enough. If she agreed to take shelter in Fairy Tail, they would be spending plenty of time with each other to know each other's deepest, darkest secrets. Ah. Ha!

He knew how to convince her to come with them. He would offer the shelter of Fairy Tail. Laxus glanced over his shoulder to his group. Freed would agree to just about anything Laxus said. Bickslow seemed simply shocked by how lenient Laxus was being, so he probably didn't care about the girl's presence one way or another. Evergreen on the other hand… She was still shooting daggers into Adamine's back.

Yeah. He had two out of three votes, and Evergreen never put up much of a fight with Laxus anyway. She may not like the idea, but she would agree that Adamine was tough. That was good enough.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Adamine abruptly howled. Her loud voice cried out so much in the bog that deer ran and birds flew.

The manticore even gave an excited jump back in his now enlarged cage. A low growl sound escaped from its maw, and Adamine flew back to grip her head.

Red began to fill her big eyes. A thin veil of liquid coated her eyes, and Laxus had to tilt his head. Weird chick.

"Y-You really can't help me?" she asked the big beast.

It gave a bow of its giant head.

"Help you with what?" Laxus broke in, annoyed by the actual concern slipping into his voice. Damn it. He didn't know what to do with a crying girl.

A small tear rolled down her face, but she wiped it off to smear it into her muddy face. "Pearl. The manticore and Pearl were fighting. It hit her, and she went flying. After that, her scent got lost like she'd been teleported. I thought it might have been the manticore since they have limited magical abilities. Teleportation being one of them, but Leonidas said he didn't do it."

"Leonidas?" Laxus blandly stated.

"Yes, that's his name." She waved towards the manticore who gave a bow. "He's the king of a pride of manties in Lancet. He just wants to get back to his females, but he has no idea how to."

"Manties? Females? What are you talking about?"

Bickslow snickered, "Sounds like the cat has got the right thing in mind. I wouldn't mind having my own harem of women at home."

Adamine gave him a raised eyebrow like she didn't understand the reference. Instantly, Evergreen swatted him with her fan.

Clearing her throat, Adamine stood. She gave a deep bow. "Since you've captured Leonidas and I've gotten my information from him, could you please find a way to get him back to Lancet instead of killing him?"

"K-Killing him!" Freed gasped. "We are Fairy Tail mages! We do not kill!"

She cast the group of a gentle smile beneath her warrior's face. "Thank you so much. Now, I have to go. Again, thank you for all that you've done."

"Oh, so now she gives us a thank you," Evergreen snarled. She put a hand on her cocked out hip. To anyone else it would look like the fairy mage was picking a fight, but to the Raijinshuu and Laxus, that was just Ever being Ever. She actually appeared impressed with Adamine.

"Please forgive me for my former rudeness. I was upset between losing Black Pearl and waking up in a strange place." She looked embarrassed and straightened from her bow. Running a hand through her matted hair, Adamine also included, "I realize how rude I was and want to offer my deepest apologies. Now, I must be off. I have to find a portal."

She spun on her heel military style and was about to go charging off like a mad bull until Bickslow and his babies made a wall in front of her. "What the-" Adamine turned, but Freed cut her off with a rune. Again, she spun. Evergreen flew to refuse her escape. With three escape routes blocked, Adamine only had one way to go, and that space was filled by Laxus standing in ankle deep mud with his brawny arms crossed over his chest. "What are you doing?"

Bickslow snickered, "We had a change of heart." His totems cheered, "Change of Heart!"

"A change of heart?"

"Yes," Freed explained. "We want you to come with us to Magnolia."

"Magnolia?"

"Yes, Stoner. You're coming with us whether you like it or not," Evergreen snapped with the sharp closing of her dirty fan. "No one drags me out into the mud without giving me something back for it."

Laxus finished, "We want you to come with us to Fairy Tail."

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><p><strong>Yay! My sweet Adamine came out in this chapter finally! See? She's not just a hard ass.<strong>


	6. Attack, Stop, Attack Again

Attack, Stop, Attack Again

Bickslow glanced over at the mage they had pretty much dragged out of the swamp just to get her back to Akane. Evergreen had hustled the both of them into her hotel room as soon as they'd gotten back. Odd for Ever to be acting so girl-friendly, but she had. After that, Bickslow had seen her dragging Adamine into the shops downstairs to shop for some clothes to replace the tattered ones.

Now, the dragon slayer was sporting a look obviously made by the fashion freak Evergreen herself. She sported a fifties pin up look. Her wavy brown hair was wrapped up into her camo bandana like a headband. Then Evergreen had somehow got the camo wearing slayer into a polka dotted dress that flowed around Adamine's taut legs. Ever even had a pair of strappy black heels to replace the Stoner's mud caked combat boots. All in all, the slayer was sexy in a vintage kind of way Bickslow never knew he had a thing for.

Yeah, travelling back to Magnolia with her in their company wasn't going to be a hardship.

Still, Adamine didn't look happy about the turn of events. She'd been adamant- ha- about not going with them. Had Freed not mentioned the library possibly having something to deal with Fiore's portals, she probably would have ditched them at the soonest opportunity.

For some reason, Bickslow couldn't keep himself from looking at her. It wasn't because he thought she was hot. Well, there was that, but it was that sense of familiarity about her. In the bog Bickslow had felt like he'd fought with her before. He felt like he knew the moves she used. The whole time she'd been fighting, he had been able to guess her attacks like he knew her as well as his poltergeists.

Weird.

Then, she had stood next to him in the train station. Her scent was evergreen woods, freshwater lakes, and familiar. Bickslow had never known his sense of smell was so developed. And, his totem, the first one he'd ever gotten, hadn't stopped hovering close to her as they'd waited for the train.

Adamine ruined Bickslow's speculation when she let out a pathetic moan. Her body lurched forward, and Bickslow arched a brow. She'd been completely fine just a second ago… Wait… Was she? Did she have motion sickness? Sure enough, Bickslow glanced out the window and snickered. Yup. The train was jetting forward to Magnolia.

"I'm gunna die," Adamine groaned. Her face had flushed green, and she gracelessly rested her head between her knees. The dress Evergreen had picked out for her hiked up high on her muscular thighs, and judging by the scarlet running across Freed's face, he was getting the panty shot of a lifetime.

Bickslow snickered, "Looking a little hot, Freed. Something catch your eye?" Underneath his visor, his dark blue brow rose. His dolls chimed, "Catch your eye?"

Flustered, Freed jerked his eyes towards Bickslow's hidden face. "I have no idea as to what you're talking about, Bickslow." He crossed his leg over another and tuned his head towards Laxus who wasn't faring much better than Adamine. At least, he was handling it better.

Laxus was leaned uncomfortably against the train. His head rested with his hands covering his face with a shadow. Had anyone looked at him, he would just look pissed off. To the Raijinshuu he looked extremely uncomfortable.

Typically, Laxus would travel on foot instead of even taking the train, but for some reason he wanted to get back to Magnolia quickly. He likely thought that the stoner was going to bolt. Still, Bickslow didn't get why Laxus wanted Adamine to join them so bad.

Yeah, she was strong. She was beautiful. Not in a drop dead gorgeous way like Mirajane, but in a more timeless way with a face and body that could match any time or style. Laxus had enough girls chasing him around to not be worried about the opposite sex, so it must have been the way she fought that caught his eye. That and she, other than Natsu, was a dragon slayer. She could be valuable to the guild. Especially when Laxus took over the position of master.

The only reason Bickslow had taken an interest in her was something altogether different. He knew this girl somehow. She was a foreigner from Lancet, like himself and Evergreen, and while neither one of them knew their last names, this girl did. Had she escaped like he and Evergreen had? The longer that Bickslow hung around her, the more the fog began to lift from his memories.

He could remember more faces, subtle conversations. He remembered playing with a shadowy person shorter than him. From the silhouette Bickslow could make out feminine curves and long, flowing hair. Her soul was a vibrant green that glistened whenever she laughed and burned when she was mad. The same as this girl's did…

"You keep staring at her like that, and you'll drill holes into the side of her head," Evergreen growled. She sounded jealous? Was it because she was no longer the only female the Raijinshuu and Laxus hung around?

Bickslow cast a wide grin, and his tongue lolled off the side of his face. "Is somebody jealous? Do you think she's pretty? Do you wish that Laxus had told you that you were strong?" Bickslow jested, riling her up easily.

A fan slapped him upside the head, and his marked tongue slithered back into his mouth at the strike. "Shut up! I am not jealous!" In a lower tone she stated, "I don't get why Laxus wants her to come with us. It doesn't make any sense." Ah. There was jealousy in her words. Bickslow knew it! Ha. Ha. Ten points to him.

Suddenly, Freed popped up. His green hair appeared from nowhere, and Evergreen jumped at the sudden intrusion on their whispered conversation. "I've been wondering the same thing," Freed explained of himself while looking over his shoulder at the two motion sick mages.

Bickslow's eyes followed. Had Laxus moved closer to the mage and was that his grey eyes scowling this way at the Raijinshuu?

Laxus snarled. Damn them. Damn them for sneaking off to go whispering while he couldn't do anything but try not to embarrass himself from his degrading motion sickness. He knew exactly what they were whispering about, but he couldn't do a single thing about it.

Instead, he focused his attention on his newest addition to Fairy Tail, or so he hoped. Adamine wasn't even trying to hide her motion sickness. She had stretched out on her back and held her mouth with one hand while gripping her stomach with another. A few people on the train were casting her concerned glances, but when anyone dared to approach her, Laxus gave them a sneer that had them backing up a few steps.

It wasn't like there was anything they could do to help her, but even if they could Laxus didn't want anyone messing with the mage. Despite her moaning about her eminent demise, she was eavesdropping on the Raijinshuu. Not only that, but the cunning female was eyeing her surroundings for potential enemies.

An immigrant wouldn't be so high strung about people trying to hunt her down. Laxus knew enough about the mage immigrants that were sent over the sea to know that the Lancet navy stopped trying to hunt them down once they passed through the border.

Makarov frequently helped the immigrant children find foster homes when they were smuggled past the border. It wasn't exactly legal in the Kingdom of Fiore to smuggle mages in, but there weren't many people hunting them down to send them back home. Lots of citizens fostered the children and took care of them until they were old enough to get jobs and live on their own as members of Fiore. It would take someone real important for Lancet to want an immigrant back.

So, who was she? What was her story? She could be anything from a nobleman's daughter to a princess of the kingdom. Mavis, he could only hope she wasn't a criminal. There were rumors of powerful mages who wreaked havoc on the kingdom and were sentenced to death when they were found. The bounties for such mages were so high even guilds, dark and not, from Fiore would be after them.

Adamine didn't look like a criminal, but a criminal of Lancet was likely a good person. Many mages rebelled against the magic-less monarchs that suppressed them. Perhaps, she was one of those mages. She was strong enough to be one.

Just then, something caught Laxus's eye, and her jerked his gaze up to a man that had slipped past his guard. He made a move to get up to intervene, but his accursed motion sickness had him falling right back down on his ass.

"Miss?" a gentlemanly voice spoke to Adamine. She cracked open one of her emerald eyes and tilted her head at the man. "H-hello, you looked to be in a lot of pain, and I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help?" The man cast an easy smile, but Adamine didn't look to be buying it for one second. Good girl.

Warily, she rose to press her back against the side of the train. "I-I'm fine," she grumbled out.

The man didn't seem impressed with her tough act. "May I sit with you then? I'm a mage. Perhaps, I specialize in healing magic. If you would like for me to, I can help you get over your motion sickness."

Adamine's lips pursed. She looked ready to turn the man down, but at the last second she moved her feet off the bench and nodded.

"Thank you," the stranger said to her.

Adamine just glanced away from him. "Think that you can- urp- fix… this?"

"Of course. Now, relax, and I'll handle everything. Okay?" Adamine nodded, and once she rested herself more comfortably in the chair, the mage began to weave spells in front of her.

The man apparently had caught the eye of Bickslow, and the Seith mage shifted in his seat. If anyone could find out that this man was up to no good, it was Bickslow. He could read a man's soul and be able to tell if the guy had good intentions or not. By the low whisper he was giving Freed, it was apparent this guy was up to something.

Immediately, Bickslow stood. He left his seat beside Evergreen and went back to his old place in front of Adamine. "What do you think you're doing?" Bickslow asked of the gentleman with the spiky blonde hair pulled into a pony tail.

"I'm helping this young lady get over her motion sickness. Why do you ask?" The man arched a blonde brow without looking away from Adamine. His hand moved, and Adamine's eyes suddenly flashed wide.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She tried to jump up and away, but her body was immobile.

Bickslow zeroed in on her reaction and quickly leaped from his seat. His fist was heading straight for the mage's grinning face until it hit nothing but leather. The seat buffered Bickslow fist, but the mage had tossed Adamine into his arms.

"Sorry, fella, but this is my stop," blondie informed. He was about to leap through a window until his face smacked headlong into one of Freed's runes. "The hell?"

"Looks like you aren't going anywhere, punk. Now, put the girl down, and we might let you get out without a few broken bones," Bickslow threatened. He took a step closer.

Thank the Raijinshuu for being here because Laxus would have been thoroughly screwed if it would have been just him. This stupid motion sickness made him as pathetic as flame brain.

"Ha. I don't think so. Do you even know who this girl is? If you did, you'd be handing her over to me with a bow on her head. Now, you let me take this girl back where she belongs, and I'll leave _you_ without a few broken bones?" The man backed up a step, but when Freed stood beside Bickslow, he cursed. "Don't say I didn't warn ya. Wind Magic: Boreas!"

A wall of wind shot up in front of the mage, and it thrust forward to smash Freed and Bickslow against the wall. The powerful blast pinned them to the spot, and just when the man thought he was going to be in the sliding path, Evergreen snapped, "Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"

Particles of glowing light surrounded the mage before exploding all around him. Adamine's body was caught up in the blast, and Laxus growled, "You couldn't have missed her?" His reply was a wicked grin.

Laxus's body pressed up against the side of the seat, but he was thrown back when breaks were slammed down on the train. Everyone was sent flying backwards, and Laxus nearly threw up then and there until he was crushed against Freed and Bickslow. "Who the hell throws the breaks on right- Ugh!" Laxus clamped his hand down on his lurching mouth.

The blonde mage holding a damaged Adamine in his arms just sneered. On one knee he commanded, "Wind Magic: Spiral Thrust!" The man opened his eyes up, ready to launch the attack at Evergreen, but her fairy dust had filled his vision. Blindly, the man released the spell to slam it against waiting Laxus. Quickly, he ducked out of the way with the males of the Raijinshuu right behind him.

"Go, my babies!" Bickslow announced. His babies went into their customary formation to launch a shot out. It smashed a faded against a blast of wind.

The man looked pleased with himself as he rose from the floor, but Evergreen came up behind him. Her leg roundhouse kicked him to the other side of the train where passengers scattered. "Damn it, Fairy Tail!" some of them cursed to no avail.

Still, the man didn't seem ready to give up, and Adamine was still somehow paralyzed even though the train had stopped. Had he done that to her?

Evergreen didn't have time to worry about it. She had to get the damsel in distress away from the blonde mage. Deciding to miss Adamine this time, Evergreen stated, "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Her waves of fairy magic slammed into the mysterious mage, and Adamine's body rolled uselessly to the ground. Once the man's grip on her was released, Adamine rose to slam her knee into the mage.

"Get bent, Lancet scum!" Adamine roared when the man was shot upwards from her blow. His body crashed through the top of the train and with a finishing blow Adamine cried, "Roar of the Adamantine Dragon!" A blast of wind and tiny diamonds projected from her roaring lips to blast the man so high into the sky that he sparkled before he faded out of sight.

Her chest heaved from exertion, but it didn't last long. Even though Evergreen was shooting daggers at her for having stolen her thunder, Adamine turned on her heel to Laxus, Freed, and Bickslow who had taken the brunt of the attack.

She looked ready to bolt. Her eyes were haunted as if from some kind of past memory, and just when she sputtered, "I-I-I've got to g-get out of here" Evergreen snatched her by her defined bicep to smash her against the side of the train.

"No, way, dragon breath! You're going to sit down, shut up, and tell me just why in the matter of five hours you've been attacked by something again!" Evergreen's voice brokered no argument, and Adamine's mouth parted to snarl. A kind of fiery aura seemed to seethe between the two women and when Freed tried to step in, both of them snapped, "You stay out this!"

**Ah, I love how Adamine and Evergreen hate each other. It's kind of cute. Well, to me it is. I like it. What about you?**

**Tell me what you think in a review. I would love to hear from you. Also, if you want to read some more about Adamine, check out my story Tablet and A Tome. Also, Magical Massacre is my last Adamine story. I hope you enjoy. :)**


	7. New Ally

New Ally

Adamine felt like a child being scolded by her teacher. Her head was cast down. Brunette waves cascaded down on either side of her face, and her teeth were digging into her bottom lip with nerves.

On the other end of the table was Evergreen. The woman was peering down at Adamine from the veil of her glasses. As much as Adamine wanted to be pissed off at Evergreen for treating her like a kid, she couldn't really blame her.

Evergreen was currently the smartest one of the bunch. She didn't want Adamine to be with her group. She had explained that while the two were getting Adam clothes for the trip to Magnolia, and now that Adamine was sitting in a café in Hargeon after Evergreen and Adamine had scared the guys away, Adam wished that she would have bolted when she had the chance.

Now, Adamine was sitting with her head down while Evergreen glowered at her over their frappuccinos. In her kingdom coffee was a special treat only drank on holidays. Here, Adamine couldn't even enjoy her favorite caffeinated beverage because she was getting snarled at by a self-proclaimed fairy.

Evergreen crossed her curvy legs underneath the bar, and Adamine gulped. The questioning was about to ensue.

"Well, are you going to sit there staring at your drink, or are you going to tell me why you're getting attacked again in a matter of five hours? Something is up with you, and I want to know why if you're going to be around my team." Evergreen took a sassy sip of her drink while glaring over the rim of the cup.

"I… don't know where to start… It's a long story," Adamine admitted. She'd never told anyone her secret. If she did, they would hand her back over to Lancet. She couldn't go back. She had too much to do here in Magnolia. She had to find Firmalione. She had to avenge her parent's deaths. Now, she even had to get Black Pearl back. Firmalione, damn it. She'd been so foolish to drag Pearl into this. It was her fault. Completely her fault…

Evergreen broke into Adam's self-loathing. "The beginning would be nice."

Adamine's lips started. The beginning had been when she was five years old… She'd be better off if she just skipped the story and ran off. Evergreen's eyes said for her to try it.

Instead, Adamine cleared her throat and straightened her back. Well, if she was going to tell someone, she might as well tell it to the guild that was the strongest in Fiore. "When I was born, I was born the princess of Lancet. I'm supposed to inherit a land that murders anyone with magical abilities. Kind of hard to do that when you're a mage yourself," she explained.

Evergreen's jaw went slack. Of course, Lancet's cruelty was famous. It would be news for people to know that a mage was supposed to be the Lancet Normal's queen. The Normans would kill her as soon as they learned she was a dragon slayer.

Evergreen surprised Adamine by asking, "Do they know?"

"N-no. They don't. At least, I don't think they do. If they did, they would go down the chain of command and give the crown to my cousin Isaac. Anyway, I was five years old when the mage Zeref came to my parent's castle." Evergreen's jaw fell further. Ah, she knew Zeref too. "Yeah. That Zeref. He murdered my parents and kidnapped me. I was subject to all kinds of strange rituals that were centered around summoning a dragon named Firmalione. After the mages had gathered up seven girls, they were supposed to sacrifice them to summon the dragon. The dragon appeared when the girls started to scream in unison. For some reason, though, the dragon said that she would only help them if she was given me as a sacrifice. After they agreed, Firmalione took me with her and raised me. Years later, she disappeared, and I went looking for her. Word got out to my fiancé that I was running around, and he sent mages and knights after me. I was living like a vagabond before the guild master of Kindred Spirit found me. He took me in, raised me. I made some friends then the guild got attacked a few years later. One of the Seith mages sacrificed himself to get me away, and I've been travelling kingdom to kingdom ever since. Only recently did I wind up in Fiore. They have the most dragon legends. Gatlin, my fiancé is still after me though…" Adamine summed up. Well, that story wasn't half as long as Adam thought it was going to be. Evergreen hadn't even shipped her off to Lancet yet for her bounty. That was good. Right?

After a moment, Evergreen seemed to unfreeze. "Wait. Let me get this straight. You're the princess of a mage hating kingdom?" Adam nodded. "And you're a dragon slayer only because you were kidnapped and raised by a dragon that eats little girls?" Another nod even though Firmalione ate gemstones not little girls. "And Zeref killed your parents?" Nod number three.

Evergreen slumped in her seat. "Wow. Talk about making me feel bad for treating you so poorly. What are you going to do about it?"

Now, Adamine had to wait a second before answering. Evergreen was actually concerned? Why?

"I-I don't know. I haven't figured that out yet. I'm still in contact with my cousins Isaac and Urian. Apparently, if the kingdom pronounces me dead, they'll give the throne to Isaac. We've been talking about that. He'd be a better king than I would be queen, but he's a mage, too. He'll be killed if they ever find out." Adamine paused. "Wait. Why do you even care?"

Evergreen gave Adamine a sad smile and slumped against the counter. "You aren't the only one of us from Lancet. I'm from there too. That's why I don't have a last name. Knowing that my princess is a tough mage kind of makes my initial dislike of you go down a little bit. It's not every day that I get to have coffee with the princess of Lancet."

Adamine snickered. Well. This was a strange turn of events. Did that mean Evergreen was going to be nice to her now? "So, are you going to stop being bitchy now?" she asked right out.

The look on Evergreen's face was priceless. It was a mix of humored and aghast at the same time. Her upper lip was curled into a grin while her left side was turned into a smile. "I'm not bitchy," she retorted.

"Uh. Huh. And, I don't grow scales when I'm angry." Adamine cracked a toothy grin.

"Alright. Alright. Maybe, I'm a little bitchy, but that's just because I thought you were a threat. And, don't you dare try anything with my team or else I will never be any kind of nice to you ever again." She grinned against her cup of coffee, and Adamine joined her in drinking.

"So, are we good now or should we go back to hating each other's guts?"

Evergreen tapped on her plump bottom lip for an extremely feminine moment, and Adamine raised her eyebrow. She'd never seen a girl as female as Evergreen. Then again, Adamine didn't hang out with people much. The most girl time she ever had was with a furry canine that shifted forms.

"I'll strike a deal with you, Stoner. We act like we had a huge fight when we go outside and meet the guys. I've got appearances to keep up, and if we act like everything is fine between us, they'll think something is up. After that, we pretend to have a rivalry?" she suggested.

Adamine snickered. "Uh. Huh. Pretend we have a rivalry? Listen, pixie dust, I can take you out with one hand tied behind my back."

Evergreen cast Adamine a challenging grin before standing up. The two pressed up against each other in a display of rivalry that sparked electricity. Some of the patrons in the coffee shop began to scoot away slowly, and a few paid their bills before hustling out.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Fine. How about tomorrow we have a little show down to see who's the alpha female?"

"Sounds good to me. You sure you aren't going to cry to momma when I beat you?"

"I'm sure that you're going to be whining about more than a broken nail when I kick your prissy ass ten ways to Sunday."

The sound of bells chiming barely registered in the girl's minds until Bickslow stated, "See? I told you they were here. Not many people run away screaming when two good looking girls are about to throw down."

* * *

><p><em>Magnolia<em>

Adamine bit her lip when the group finally set foot on the streets of Magnolia. She'd been trying to get here for a while, and with Freed's mention that she might be able to find information on Zeref _and_ Firmalione _and_ portals, she was barely containing the urge to ask him for directions to the library right now.

What was keeping her mouth shut, though, was a certain intimidating building that they were approaching. It was a three story pagoda with a massive sign that stated, "Fairy Tail" across the front. If this building wasn't the guild hall, then Adamine wasn't sure what else there could be.

Still, she was nervous. She had no right to be here. Fairy Tail was for citizens of Fiore. A runaway princess who was too scared to go back to her kingdom shouldn't even step foot in an established place like a guild hall.

Her eyes darted around as she tried to find a reason not to go in there, but Laxus wasn't having any of that. As soon as Adamine started veering down another street, Laxus put his big hand on top of her head and turned it back straight. He warned, "Don't even think about it. You want to go see the library, you come inside."

Adam mocked, "Wanna see the library, you gotta come inside. _Derka_. _Derka_." When he turned his back to her, she stuck her tongue out at him, earning herself a snicker from Bickslow.

Freed on the other hand gave her a nervous grin. He made a motion for Adamine to stop making faces at Laxus's back, but she kept going. As soon as Laxus turned back around, she straightened up to examine her nails. The lightning rod didn't suspect a thing. She tossed a wink at Freed.

"Freed, you go see if we have access to the library, and _you_ come with me." Laxus pointed at Adamine. He walked off, and Adamine immediately set back to making faces at him until they entered the guild. It was then when her tongue sat there hanging from her mouth, and she stared wide eyed at what a guild really was.

_This_ was nothing like the beaten up old farm house that Kindred Spirit had used for a guild hall. Instead of having broken out windows and a smashed up countertop in a makeshift kitchen as a bar, Fairy Tail had a legitimate wooden bar fully equipped with a sexy barmaid and wooden bar stools. How freaking cool!

Not only did their bar look fabulous, but people were fighting. When a barstool flew by her head to crash against the wall, a spike of adrenaline went from Adamine's toes to her forehead. She would have joined in the violent fray of flames and ice had Laxus not done that thing with her head again and turned her towards a set of stairs.

Even as they trekked onwards through a flurry of swinging fists, kicking legs, and random items that suddenly turned into throwing knives, people took notice of Laxus walking with a stranger.

Her body suddenly felt like shutting down when tons of eyes settled upon her. _Oh, Firmalione. Please, don't turn to adamant. Please, don't turn to adamant, _Adamine chanted to herself. Her legs went from free flowing movement to stone hard rigidity. Her teeth dug so hard down on the inside of her lip, that the diamond hard tips cut through skin. Oh, man, she was gunna turn to stone at this rate.

Great Firmalione, why did everyone have to notice her. Unconsciously, Adamine felt herself smashing up closer to Laxus. He was the only one that she knew in this strange place, and even though she didn't know him well enough to trust him with her sanity, she couldn't help but try to burrow into his side. It wasn't like she had anyone else. The nicest one, Freed, was gone and talking to someone. Bickslow was at the bar. Evergreen was trying to convince someone to paint her.

"So, you're shy," Laxus mentioned quietly. He looked at her with kind, grey eyes. So different from the anger and stoicism that they normally were filled with.

Adamine tried to ignore the girlie feeling fluttering in her heart and grumbled, "Nope. I sure ain't. Where did you get a stupid idea like that?" She tried to ignore the eyes prying into her and the whispers coming from people's lips, but it was crowding in on her even in this spacious place. Damn it. If they all would have kept fighting, Adamine wouldn't be shutting down like this.

She could already feel her chest turning to stone. The diamond that glistened just beneath the surface of her skin was creeping up, and she hiked the collar of her dress higher before something soft covered her ears. When her hands reached up, she felt a set of headphones with conical spikes protruding from either side.

Music was subtle at first until Laxus twisted one of the spikes until Adamine couldn't hear anyone around her. The alternative beats pulsated through her ears, and Adamine could filter out the stares running against her skin. She cast Laxus a shy grin he didn't see as they ascended the stairs.

Once on the second floor, Laxus rapped his knuckles against an office door. Immediately, the comfort Adamine felt at having a sound blocker on her head vanished. Her heart sped back up, and her teeth went back to chewing a hole through her bottom lip. She was meeting a guild master, her first in Fiore and third after meeting Spyro and the first master of Kindred Spirit.

For some reason, she felt the need to check her hair and smooth down the dress Evergreen had foisted on her, but that wasn't like her. Instead, Adamine proudly jutted her chin out. When the door began to open, Adamine slipped the headphones off her pointed ears to look bravely forward.

She had expected a tall, intimidating man judging by Fairy Tail's reputation for destruction, and when the door opened for Adamine to look towards empty air, she blinked a couple of times. Well, where was he at?

Seemingly out of nowhere, Adamine heard a male's voice go, "Yo! Laxus, have you finished your first S-class mission?" Adamine's eyes went down. And down. Her jaw went slack. T-the master of Fairy Tail was… short and… old.

The monster of a man that Adamine had been expecting was now downsized to a short, grandfatherly looking man with a very elf-like hat on his head. The cloth jutted out to two points on either side, and pinstripes went vertical on the article of clothing. This was not what Adam had expected at all.

"Yeah, gramps. It's done. I've got something else that I want to talk to you about." Laxus gestured to Adamine, and her face went a brilliant scarlet when the man literally _poofed_ into place in front of her. There was no other way to describe it. He kind of just appeared.

This gramps appeared to be doing a very thorough examination of Adamine before he dropped back down to the floor and stroked his mustache. "She is a very beautiful woman, Laxus." His attention diverted from Laxus and back to Adamine. "Would you be interested in joining Fairy Tail, miss?"

Huh? "Laxus, you didn't say anything about me joining your guild. B-Besides, I-I couldn't." Adamine took a nervous step backwards. Guilt was beginning to weigh its heavy self back upon her.

"Nonsense, my dear. Anyone can join Fairy Tail. We're all family here. Besides, it's rare for Laxus to bring pretty women into the guild and show them off to me. What's the name of his new companion?" Makarov's eyes glinted with mischief, and he kept glancing from Adam to Laxus.

Laxus just looked annoyed. Adamine just looked confused. After a short moment, Adamine addressed, "I'm Adamine, and we're not companions. I just met him. And… I'm just here to use the library."

Makarov gave a hasty nod, obviously not believing the whole not companions thing. "Well, I'm the master of this guild. My name is Makarov, and you have access to any materials that you need in the guild. Also, if you change your mind about wanting to join the guild, come see me." Makarov made a move to go down the stairs and towards the bar, but Laxus cut him off.

"There's something else that I want to know about. Do you know anything about why mages from Lancet would be trying to attack an immigrant?"

Adamine's lips parted. Oh, no. People couldn't know her secret. It was bad enough that she had told Evergreen, but she had an out with her. The both of them were from Lancet. Evergreen knew how bad living in that country as a mage was. She couldn't rat Adam out because then Adamine could rat her out. The Normans, or normals, of Lancet did everything in their power to keep mages from escaping. They used the mages as slave labor and considered every mage under their ownership.

Pausing, Makarov lifted an ivory brow. He turned around from the stairway to open his mouth. He looked about ready to ask Adamine something until Evergreen appeared on the stairs. Adam's saving grace mentioned, "Freed said we have access to the library. You coming, Stoner?"

Makarov wondered, "Stoner?"

But, Adamine didn't even answer him. She slipped through the two males to follow Evergreen through the guild where people started staring at her again. Thankful that she still had Laxus's headphones, Adamine quickly popped them back on to filter out her own social anxiety.

Adamine muttered, "Thanks for that save."

Evergreen grinned. "Any time. I can't afford to let my princess get sent to a slaughterhouse."

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. I'm surprised that I've been able to write this much this weekend. This has been wonderful.<strong>

**I hope that you all have been enjoying it.**

**Please, leave me some comments on what you think.**

**Thank you for reading! :)**


	8. To Thank You

To Thank You

"Whoa!" Adamine breathed as she took in the sights of fifteen foot tall books shelves and the lovable scent of aging paper. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, but it was everything but anxiety. As soon as Adam had entered this downstairs library, her eyes had gone as wide as the moon, and Laxus's headphones had dropped to her shoulders. They still pumped music from their speakers, but Adamine didn't hear a single beat of it. Her wide, emerald eyes were focused on the massive shelves that lined every inch of this large basement space.

"It's wonderful. Isn't it?" Freed intoned from behind her.

Locks of caramel waves tossed behind Adamine's head, and she spun around to grip Freed's hands in both of hers. With a look of pure glee on her face, Adamine cried, "This is so freaking awesome!" She dropped a surprised Freed's pale hands and dashed over to a ladder on the bookshelf. "I haven't seen libraries like this since living in my cas-cavern! Do you have a selection of manga?"

"Manga?" Freed wondered. He pressed his hand against his face as if in deep thought then snapped his fingers together. "Yes! We do. Actually, follow me. I'll show you."

Evergreen rolled her eyes in an exasperated way. As Adamine flitted around Freed like a kid in a candy store, she grumbled, "Well, if you two are going to be geeking it out down here. I suppose I'll go back upstairs. Tell me if you need any help."

"Okay!" Adamine called from the complete other side of the library. Her voice was an echo before she popped out from another row of bookshelves only to disappear once more. "Oh! Oh! Oh! I know this manga!"

Freed stepped cautiously around a shelf before raising his brows. Adamine already had a massive selection of manga spread out in a circle around her. The comic books were opened to specific pages, and others were left untouched. The one in Adamine's hands was one of his favorite.

She held the newest chapter in her slender hands, and Freed eagerly joined her in their circle of manga. "This one is one of my favorites. It's by a mystery writer. I did some research into its publishing, and not even the publisher knows the identity of the writer."

Adamine's face flushed, and she tucked a lock of hair behind her pointed ear. "O-Oh. Really?"

"Yes. They only know that the writer is a woman. She has wonderful line work. Each chapter she produces is like a tiny piece of perfect art. Even her action scenes are beautiful. My favorite character is Erianna. She's the princess of a foreign country but ran away when she learned she had magical abilities. It's reportedly based on the actual princess of Lancet," Freed explained. He took one of the older comics made by the same woman and flipped a page to show a shot of Erianna.

Freed's eyebrow arched when Adamine's flush deepened. He didn't even get the chance to ask her about it because she'd jumped from the ground to shove one of the comics back into its place. "We really should be looking for information on how to get Pearl back," she explained, gathering manga in her arms. "I got caught up in the moment with all these books around me."

"Yeah. That's easy to do here." Freed set to assisting her before plucking something out of his pocket. He unfolded a pair of glasses then handed the red rimmed item to her. "Here. These are Gale Force Reading Glasses. They'll let you read faster than normal."

Happily, Adamine accepted the item. "Do you have some?"

"Of course. I told one of the girls here, Levy, that someone needed to borrow hers, and she gave them to me. Now, you said you wanted to look into portals?" Freed took a step down another aisle of shelves, and Adamine eagerly followed.

It wasn't long before the two of them were sitting in between a circle of towering stacks of books. Their eyes flipped through page upon page, and Adamine pulled a notebook from her leather backpack at one point. Her hands were ferociously writing notes. Freed admired her determination to find her friend and set to scribbling down his own set of important information onto a notebook of his own.

* * *

><p>"They've been in there for five hours," Evergreen mentioned to Laxus and Bickslow as they sat at their usual table. After Evergreen had left Adam downstairs with Freed, she'd come up to see Laxus had tossed a fireball of Natsu across the guild. The boy had landed with his feet hanging up in the air, but he hadn't given up. Laxus had then threw him at Gray. Ever since then spouts of flame and ice were getting thrown through the room. She was about ready to join Freed and Adamine downstairs to be bored to death instead of annoyed to death. "And, it's almost time for the guild to shut down for the night."<p>

Bickslow leaned back in his chair and burst out laughing maniacally when both Gray and Natsu were thrown outside by Makarov's overgrown hand. Right behind their flailing bodies was a fully armored Erza and Mirajane prowled right behind her. "Freed finally found a girl his age to sit around and read with, Ever. You gunna go try to separate them?" he commented after his bout of laughter.

Evergreen cast him a scowl then directed her eyes to the setting sun. All of a sudden, something popped in her head. "Where is she going to sleep tonight? We know she doesn't have any money, so it's not like she can rent a place out."

Laxus intoned, "We don't know anything about her. As soon as you got back to the hotel, you bought her clothes and makeup without her getting a chance to tell you anything. Remember when she offered to pay for her own stuff, but you ignored her?"

Ever just glanced towards the stairs to the library. Dang it. Laxus was right. Evergreen had completely ignored Adamine's protests. Then again, Ever had just been happy to be going shopping for girl clothes for once with another woman. Typically, she was just around the guys. Even if she hadn't trusted Adam at the moment, she had been happy to do girl things with a girl.

Now that she knew Adamine was a runaway princess, Evergreen felt even more inclined to help Adamine. Ever had been penniless when she was shipped overseas from Lancet. Had master Makarov not been helping take in Lancet immigrant children that day, Ever had no clue how she would have survived.

That settled it then. Adam would stay with her as long as she needed to. Evergreen was just about to voice this when Bickslow stated, "I'll take in the stoner."

"You'll do what?" Evergreen asked dumbly.

"I'll take in the stoner. Mine and Freed's apartment is plenty big enough for her. Besides, we've got that old Murphy bed no one's ever used in the living room," Bickslow mentioned.

"Murphy Bed?" Laxus questioned.

"Yeah, the one that I built because Freed wanted more storage in the apartment. It looks like a TV stand without a TV in it." If Bickslow wouldn't have been wearing his visor, everyone could have seen his raised eyebrow. Instead, all they saw was a metal grate.

Evergreen didn't look too pleased with the idea. She crossed her arms under her breasts and grumbled, "How do we know we can trust you with her?"

Bickslow's grin widened, tongue hanging out of his mouth. "You don't!" Around him his babies exclaimed the exact same thing. A set of footsteps entering the now quiet guild hall caught everyone's attention, and those who were still in here turned their heads.

The headband that had kept Adamine's hair pulled out of her face was now wrapped around her neck. Laxus's headphones pumped sound into Adamine's ears, and her eyes were shielded by Gale Force Glasses. She looked ruffled. All those spikes and waves that had been kept contained by her hair were jutting out loosely, and judging by the look on her face, it wasn't because of a good thing. She looked cranky.

Behind her, it didn't seem Freed was faring any better. His Gale Glasses had fallen lower on his slim nose, and he was burrowed deep inside of a book even as they approached. Once his mind had devoured the last of the contents of the book, he snapped it shut, slumped onto his typical seat, and threw himself on the table.

On the other side of the table, Adamine mirrored his reaction.

"I take it research didn't do anything?" Laxus mentioned to the girl who looked ready to melt beside him.

She whined, "Nooooo. Not a damned thing, and we read for hours."

"I even contacted an Archive Mage from Blue Pegasus, but he couldn't tell me a single thing," Freed complained. "How late is it?"

Evergreen commented, "Midnight. The guild's getting ready to shut down for the night, and Bickslow said that Adamine was staying at your place." Evergreen paused. She knew how much Freed hated it when Bickslow invited people over without letting him know first. She was just waiting for the bomb to explode.

Instead, Freed calmly regained control over his melted body. He pressed himself back up to a more proper stance and tucked his glasses into his breast pocket. "Of course. It makes the most sense since we have the most room and the two of us will be researching together. Adam and I already discussed this."

Despite the astounded looks placed atop Laxus and Evergreen's face, Bickslow looked happy. "Yahoo! We get to bunk with the stoner!" Bickslow chimed. His babies danced around his body. "Maybe, someone will try to kidnap her again, and I can get revenge on that punk from last time!"

Adamine's big eyes glanced up to Evergreen, and she mouthed, "Save me."

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><p>Adam wasn't sure whether to be scared or not when the two mages walked with her through the midnight streets of Magnolia. Evergreen and Laxus had gone their separate ways from the group when they'd left the guild hall, so now she was stuck with the scholar and the Seith Mage who she wasn't entirely sure she felt comfortable around.<p>

Still, it wasn't like she could put down their offer. Black Pearl had been the one to look after their finances. All of her money was contained in a summoning spell Pearl used when they had to purchase something. Adamine truly was now a penniless, homeless commoner. What she wouldn't give for some of her Lancet riches to pawn off for a place to stay.

When the two mages approached a town house type structure, Adamine's nerves started acting back up. It wasn't because she was going to be staying with two strange guys. It was because she hadn't done anything to deserve such kindness. She really needed to do something to thank these guys. Adamine just didn't know what, but when Freed and Bickslow entered the apartment complex, Adamine suddenly got an idea.


	9. Remind Me

Remind Me

The smell of pancakes and bacon was what had Bickslow popped one eye open the next morning. The scent of home cooking was too much for his dreaming mind to withstand, and instead of being greeted by Freed's morning boot camp routine of whistle blowing and wake up exercises, Bickslow was greeted to the sight of a beautiful woman cracking open his bedroom door.

His totems sat quietly, the souls that possessed them rolling around in his mind instead of in the dolls, and Bickslow immediately heard one of them tease, "Should have cleaned!" Mentally, he scowled at the soul but adjusted until he rested on the headboard of his low lying, platform bed.

The beautiful woman with a mess of brunette spikes and waves gave him a shy smile. "H-Hi," she greeted. So far, she hadn't run screaming at the sight of his messy bedroom.

Pairs of pants were tossed carelessly onto the floor. Bickslow's visor was unstrapped from his head and sat on the black nightstand along with some particularly scandalous magazines. With such a good looking woman in his presence, Bickslow was surprised that she didn't make a comment of the bottle of lotion sitting next to some tissue paper.

Instead of being disturbed by the lack of care, Adamine smiled at him caringly.

"Uh. Hey," Bickslow finally mustered up. His hand subtly went out in a stretch and tossed his nude magazines behind the nightstand.

"Uh… I made breakfast. Would you like it in bed, or do you want to eat in the kitchen with Freed?" Adamine eased in a little closer, noticed the magazines on the floor, and picked them up. Her eyebrows rose up at the images in the magazine, but she didn't scold him for being a pervert like Evergreen would. Instead, Adamine just placed the magazines back where they had fallen from. "Human anatomy is pretty cool. Isn't it?" she enthused.

Bickslow's jaw dropped. "Yeah. Anatomy. It's real great." What. The. Hell. This woman didn't think anything of him having porno mags? Cool. After scratching the back of his head, Bickslow stated, "I'll eat in the kitchen. Uh. Thanks."

"No, problem. It's the least I could do for you for letting me stay over. If there's anything that you need, just holler for me. I owe you guys." She made an okay sign with her hands then flitted away after closing the bedroom door.

Bickslow was reeling from that comment even as his souls chimed his thoughts.

"Hot girl."

"Should have cleaned."

"Wouldn't mind you in bed."

He snickered at their comments then projected the little guys from his head and towards the dolls. Once they were floating around, Bickslow glanced down at himself. So, a really good looking and powerful woman had strolled right into his room while he laid there with morning wood. Again, cool. Because she hadn't seemed disturbed in the slightest. As a matter of fact, Bickslow didn't even think that she'd noticed.

With a wide grin Bickslow ran his hands through his wildly spiked hair then slung on a pair of black sweats before shuffling out into the hallway. In the short space Bickslow could see Adamine more fully.

She had somehow found the gag gift Bickslow had gotten Freed the day he'd moved in with the green haired mage. The frilly apron that read, "Kiss the cook" flitted about her body. Sometime between making breakfast and waking Bickslow up, Adamine had cleaned and dried the laundry.

In her hands was a pair of Bickslow's underwear. She folded it with a feminine care before placing it into a stack that was obviously his clothes before moving to a pair of Freed's pants. Freed appeared flustered when she set to folding his undergarments, but as he read a book while eating a plate of fluffy pancakes, he didn't seem too moved to make a statement. The stoner was trying to pull her weight for the guys. Bickslow felt kind of… glad. At least, she wouldn't be dead weight.

Once Adamine caught sight of Bickslow strolling in with his babies, she gave a grin that sent a strange warm feeling through his body. Odd memories flooded him like they had when he'd first met her. Suddenly instead of standing in his living room, Bickslow was sitting in a rundown house.

A pretty young girl stood behind a bar counter. Even though Bickslow couldn't remember her name, he knew that they were friends. She was wearing a short dress with big polka dots shaped like skulls on it. In her hair was a camouflage bandana that seemed oddly familiar.

She was flipping pieces of bacon while some tall man was making jokes about how she would make Bickslow a good wife someday. Both Bickslow and the girl turned a hot crimson at the comment, but when the strange girl's big, green eyes looked at him, a warmth filtered throughout his body so hard it nearly had Bickslow falling off the bar stool he was rocking on.

The bar stool caught on one of the ratty old wooden planks, and Bickslow would have crash landed had the girl not caught him by the wrist.

"The pancakes are on the counter with rest of breakfast," the girl stated in an oddly masculine, oddly familiar voice. "Hello, Bickslow. Earthland to Bickslow."

Bickslow blinked really hard a couple of times and was teleported back into his living room. Standing like a complete fool, Bickslow was staring holes into his and Freed's happy maid. Freed was sitting at the dinner table and raising a green brow at him.

After a slight shake of his head, Bickslow muttered, "Sorry. Just woke up." His babies cried, "Woke up!"

"Uh. Huh," Freed commented back. His green eyes were looking from Adamine to Bickslow, and after a short nod, he went back to his book.

Bickslow cast Freed a glower but couldn't help the way his crimson eyes strayed back to the little woman who had gone from folding clothes to towels. After fixing himself a plate of a smorgasbord of delicious comfort foods, Bickslow made a motion towards the refrigerator.

Adamine beat him to it. "No. No. Please, sit down. Let me take care of everything." Adamine's warm hands were on his bare shoulders in seconds, and that sense of familiarity flashed through Bickslow's head again. The fog was lifting even further.

Before he could get lost again, he snickered, "I think I can get used to having a maid around. Now, if you were in costume, it would be better." He allowed Adamine to sit him down in a chair.

"Costume?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah. A maid costume. You've seen 'em. Black and white with a frilly apron and knee socks," he teased further. His dolls starting singing about maid costumes, and Adamine glanced down at her attire briefly.

"Well, it could be nice if I had some clothing specifically for cleaning. Do you think you could find me one of those outfits, Bickslow?"

Ah, man. This was great. She was completely ignorant. Bickslow was loving this! Before he could make another comment, Freed snapped, "Stop harassing our new roommate."

Giving a subtle shrug, Bickslow set to the foods placed out in front of him. After explaining to Adamine how he wanted his coffee spiked, he had slammed through two plates. Damn, the slayer was a good cook. Surprise.

Bickslow was taking his first drink when he finally realized something. Adamine hadn't eaten. Her currently dainty hands were cleaning up Freed's dishes, and he asked, "Oi! Ain't you gunna eat anything?"

Adamine tilted her head at Bickslow. "Well, I could, but these dishes need to be cleaned and I need to put the laundry up." When Adamine left the counter to go back to the living room, Bickslow sent his dolls to form a blockade.

"Na. You gotta eat too. Sit down, so I won't feel so fat for eating by myself."

Freed cast Bickslow a surprised glance and snapped his book shut. Oh, great. He was over reading another situation. The green haired mage let a cunning grin slip up his face, and Freed set to drinking his orange juice while watching Adamine sit down between the two.

Bickslow's dolls danced happily around him, but there was one doll, the first one he'd ever gotten, that kept floating around Adamine. All of Bickslow's dolls had some amount of free will. The poltergeists had favorite places and people. They had small personalities which allowed Bickslow to know which was which, but there was something familiar about the way Peppe hovered around Adamine.

Again, his head was about to go off into La La Land for the third time in one morning, but this time he let himself do it, wanting to figure out more about his past.

_She was here again. She was always showing up in places like this. If Bickslow ever needed to find her, all he would have to do was look for a body of water and a clearing where the moon hung heavy overhead. She loved the moon. Every time she drew, she would put it in her drawings. It was her trademark. Well, that and her camo._

_Trying to sneak about, Bickslow slipped through the thick bushes in the woods. He and his totem were the perfect combination of silence while they crept in closer to the girl._

_Today, she was wearing a short plaid skirt and white button up. Her legs were covered up in knee socks, and somewhere she'd taken her shoes off and hadn't put them back on. That was normal. She had a habit of dropping her shoes off to walk barefoot in the grass. She said it reminded her of her mother._

_Even though, Bickslow kept creeping up on her. They had a prank war going on between them, and she had won the last battle. The crazy female had put glue in Bickslow's shampoo. After coating his hands thick with the substance, he'd run it through his spiky hair and gotten stuck. After shaving off the sides of his head, Bickslow had sworn to get her back. Today was that day. A pillow filled with feathers and a bucket full of honey said so._

_Beaming like a madman, Bickslow climbed up a tree. Once in position, he caught sight of her face. Against the moonlight, she looked absolutely gorgeous even in her skimpy attire that totally said, "Screw me!" She tucked a lock of caramel hair behind her ears, and Bickslow caught sight of movement at her waist._

_To his complete luck she unbuckled her belt to let her skirt flutter down to the grass. She shimmied out of her button up then slipped out of her knee socks. Once fully naked, she stretched her arms high to the sky. Bickslow suddenly felt moisture trailing down his upper lip, and quickly caught a droplet of blood before it could hit her._

_The girl's head lifted. She sniffed the air curiously before raising a brow. With the goofiest grin he'd ever seen on a woman, the female spun on her heel to thrust her finger to her voyeur in the tree. "I thought it smelt like you!" she proclaimed._

_The prankster of the century darted down to her backpack. After retrieving two cans of silly string, she blasted Bickslow in the face with the cool spray._

_Not to be outdone, Bickslow let go of his bleeding nose to toss the gooey bucket of honey down on the girl he'd been hunting. As soon as she let out a cry of half humor half surprise, Bickslow ripped open the feather stuffed pillow. She let out another shriek, but Bickslow eagerly took his opportunity._

_He leaped down from the tree limb with his nose still gushing blood and shoved the girl into the pond. Her hands snatched him last second, and the two of them went tumbling down in a splash of sticky, slimy goodness._

_When their heads finally breeched the surface of the water, she cried, "Oh, I am so going to get revenge on your ass!"_

Freed studied the entranced way his roommate was staring at the girl in front of him. He'd never seen Bickslow act so utterly goofy in front of a woman. The guy was usually so lewd that he didn't even take his own jokes seriously. Now, though, Bickslow was looking googlie eyed towards Adamine.

Hmm. He would have to address this with Evergreen. Evergreen had a love for romance. Perhaps, she would be interested in getting Bickslow into a relationship with Adamine. A sudden flash of spiky haired children with brown hair and jet black facial tattoos flashed through Freed's mind, and he had to stop himself before he shivered at the sight. Hopefully, they would inherit Adamine's good looks.

As a matter of fact… Freed glanced to the clock above the door. "Bickslow," Freed called. No response. "Bickslow." Again, no response. "Bickslow, will you please stop drooling over Adamine and listen to me."

Bickslow's eyes widened briefly before he snapped, "Oi! I wasn't drooling over anyone!" The flush across his tan skin said otherwise, but Freed decided against making a comment.

"Whatever you say, but we have more important business to attend to. I want to check the guild to see if there's a mission regarding portals or dragons so we can help Adamine." Freed finished the last of his orange juice, but Adamine swept it from him to quickly clean it along with her plates in the sink.

"Speaking of important business, Evergreen challenged me to a fight today," Adamine mentioned like she was talking about the weather. Freed and Bickslow's jaws dropped.

**Ah! I adore Bickslow and Mina flashbacks. *cough* I think I may have an addiction. Oh, and I love Bix's pervy mind. It's wonderful. Really. Don't even deny it. You love it too.**

**Anywhoo, Thank you all for reading.**

**I would greatly appreciate reviews. They help me get my groove in motion. :) Have a good day!**


	10. From Stone to Gem

**So guys, I was in a tragic accident today... There I was, staring down the model I had to build for my architecture class. I had one board left to cut, and the blade was in my hand. I thought everything was under control until the blade took hold of my body and decided it wanted to slice the tip of my dang finger off.**

**Sadly, this renders my middle finger useless. It's a real shame because I can not type with any kind of speed or accuracy. The good thing is that when people ask me what I did to my hand, I can just flip 'em the bird to flaunt my super sexy paper towel and tape bandaid.**

**Anywho, I just wanted to share that bit of info since I probably have grammatical errors out the roof tonight.**

**Enjoy my smack down in chapter ten where Ever and Mina throw down! Have a splendiferous day!**

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><p>From Stone to Gem<p>

Adamine wasn't sure that she would be able to get used to this every time she came back to Fairy Tail. She paused underneath the Fairy Tail sign, but her two escorts weren't having it. Bickslow tossed a playful arm around her shoulders, and Freed cast her an encouraging smile.

After a huff of hot air, Adamine stepped into the guild. As soon as she entered, Freed deflected a blast of fire that was barreling towards them. Once more, Adamine wanted to get riled up and join in the fray, but her shyness deterred her.

As soon as she entered the guild, a pink haired male jumped up towards her. "I don't know you." He took sniffs of her scent, and Adamine grinned. Ah. He was a slayer. "You smell funny."

"Same back at you." Adamine slipped from the shelter of Bickslow's arm to sniff at younger boy. "Fire, dragon, and ash with a hint of pure guy. Oh, yeah. You must be a dragon slayer?"

The male's eyes widened. He asked, "Do you know Igneel? He's a dragon and my dad! He-"

A table flipped on top of Natsu, and Adamine reared back when a red headed female roared, "My cake!" Adamine watched in astonishment when a blast of ice fired out to smack the currently aflame dragon slayer. She really wanted to join in when the red head came in to slice a massive blade through the ice crystals. Adamine could feel herself being drawn into the conflict like an addict until she caught sight of Evergreen.

The woman was eyeing her with a stone cold ferocity. The dragon in Adamine sat up and snarled at the obvious challenge in Evergreen's chocolaty eyes. Without realizing she was doing it, Adamine thrust her finger out towards Evergreen to howl, "Evergreen, it's time for me to kick your ass!"

Simultaneously to her statement, the entire guild went still. The blade wielding red head froze with two males cowering beneath her. A punk goth dressed girl with white hair stopped punching one guy in the face. A male with the arm of a beast froze to stare at the brunette challenging one of the most reclusive members of Fairy Tail. Makarov was only one still sitting calmly. He sipped from his beer mug at eight o' clock in the morning and just nodded in approval.

With a glower and grin combined Evergreen rose from her designated table at Fairy Tail. "Where are we going to do this at then, Stoner?"

"Anywhere you please," Adamine taunted back.

The guild broke out in whispers.

"Who's that girl?"

"Why does she want to fight Evergreen?"

"They'd better take it outside, or the guild's gunna turn to stone."

Makarov rose from his position to announce, "You will take it to the streets outside!"

Adamine grinned to the old man who beamed back at her. There was an unstated remark that flowed between them that said Makarov was betting against her. It didn't matter to Adamine. As she shuffled through bodies of Fairy Tail wizards, she knew that she would just show him how powerful Adamine Terra, Daughter of the Adamantine Dragon Firmalione, was.

Evergreen was all confidence when the two made it to the streets in front of the guild. A whole crowd from the guild was following them, and the pink haired guy was hollering something about getting fired up.

Not paying anyone but her prey any mind, Adamine zeroed in on her opponent. She knew that Laxus was a lightning dragon slayer. She knew that Bickslow was a Seith Mage. But, she had no clue was powers laid underneath the fairy before her. The woman could fly, and that was all Adam knew. It was all Adamine needed to know. She could knock her out of the sky with ease.

Once the women were centered in a crowd of curious onlookers and members of the guild, Makarov took his stand between the two. Out of the corner of Adamine's eyes, she noted some guild members placing bets. The odds were Adamine-5 and Evergreen-70.

Laxus's calm demeanor was directed at Adamine. Bickslow looked like a bandit about to cash in on a huge bounty. They obviously had bet on Adam. Now, she just wondered who the other three were that were on her side.

No matter, Evergreen was still brimming with that air of confidence. It was one that Adam was gunna punch right out of her glasses wearing face.

"Are you ready?" Makarov wondered to the two women. Adamine gave a nod. Evergreen gave a flip of her hair. "Alright then! In the name of Fairy Tail, I say duel!" A flag with the Fairy Tail insignia flew down, and both women leapt into battle.

All finesse Evergreen launched skyward with her wings. Adamine on the other hand called out, "Roar of the Adamantine Dragon!" Her gasp creating blast had members of the guild whispering of her talents, but Adamine watched in complete surprise when Evergreen was only skimmed by the blow.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"

Adamine slipped underneath a wave of light infused needles. Her grin was unmistakable as she launched into the sky. She called, "Secret Slayer Art: Gemstone Pillar Heavenwards!" A large pillar of stone erupted from the ground. It shattered the street of Magnolia, and Adamine delivered a punishing roundhouse kick to Evergreen's torso.

Saliva burst gracelessly from Evergreen's lips, but she wasn't done yet. Using her wings to stop her, Evergreen swept inwards. She pulled down her glasses to cry out, "Stone Eyes!"

Adamine waited for something, but nothing happened. Confused, she looked to see why onlookers were surprised. Instead of seeing a reason, Adamine solely saw her diamond skin shimmering. She gave up trying to figure out what was getting them riled up and took a quick launch towards Evergreen.

Her fist kissed the skin of Evergreen's face. Just when Adamine thought the woman was going to be down for the count, Evergreen returned the martial arts combat. Her knee jabbed upwards and into Adamine's diamond gut. Even as she howled in pain from the blow, Adamine snickered. "Giving up, school girl?"

"Not quite yet!" With barely any distance between the two of them, Evergreen commanded, "Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"

With nowhere to escape to, Adamine thrust her hands up in front of her face. The blow shot Adamine backwards. She fell to the ground with her back making a trench. To stop herself she snapped, "Spines of the Adamantine Dragon." Instantly, spines erupted from Adamine's back. They shred through her clothing to grip into the dirt.

Once she was seated firmly in place, Adamine shot back forward. With her adamantine body elongating to form dual blades on the backs of both forearms, Adam launched back into a series of attacks. She delivered a blow down onto Evergreen, and as soon as Adamine pressed her gemstone shimmering blade into a final blow, Makarov called, "And Match!"

Shock surrounded the entire crowd, but it was Bickslow's manic laughter that had everyone turning towards him. "I told you, Freed! All you suckers owe me!" His babies cried, "Owe me!"

With a snicker slipping from Adam's lips, she retracted her blades. In the chaos of mages paying Laxus and Bickslow, Adamine reached down to Evergreen. The woman cast her a pained but kind smile. "How did you not freeze with my Stone Eyes?"

Adam tapped on her now silky flesh. "All of my skin cells have a diamond backing. When I change into my slayer form, the cells flip over. When you used your Stone Eyes, it summoned the stone cells to flip instead of turning me to stone. I guess you can't turn stone into stone whether it's a gem or not," Adam laughed. "Oh. Are you okay?"

"Been through worse. You know what they say, diamonds are a girl's best friend," Evergreen teased. The two of them beamed at each other like they'd pulled off some kind of coup.

It wasn't until Freed came up with a job flyer that the two stopped giggling and laughing like little girls. "I just found a job that talks about portals," he explained. "The master said that he would give you a temporary pass to take on Fairy Tail jobs as long as you wore this." Freed extended his hand to show a temporary tattoo on a sticker.

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><p><strong>Woo! First mission with Mina! Oh, if you have ideas on how the mission should go, tell me in a review! Thank you all for reading!<strong>


	11. Stuff, Things

**Alright, y'all, so here's the spill. I wasn't really sure who I should send Adamine with in this two mage limited mission. If you want to see Mina work with any other member of the Raijinshuu or the Great Laxus himself, I want you to tell me in a review or private message. I can always rewrite this chapter and the ones following.**

**I do take requests! Suggestions are always appreciated.**

**If you want me to add other OCs or Fairy Tail characters, I could do that as well. Just tell me if they're good guys or bad guys.**

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><p>Stuff, Things<p>

"It says that It's only for two mages," Adamine pointed out as the group sat around the guild's pool and away from all the people who wanted to get to know Adam. Laxus had to put his headphones back on Adam's head to stop her from shying off, and Bickslow had wrapped his arm around her in a protective way. Evergreen had scowled at them, and Freed had sealed the place off with runes that blocked sound and intruders. All in all? Adamine was left alone and hadn't gone stone still on the walk out to the back of the guild. Damned social anxiety.

Evergreen laced her fingers underneath her chin in another feminine gesture. "I'll go with you then. Besides, it would be better for two girls to go instead of you with one of the guys," Ever offered to everyone but Adam's surprise. No one knew what had gone on for them to put out a truce, but they did guess it was that fight.

Freed jumped in. "No. I think it would be best for me to go with her since I'm the one who's helping her do research. This counts as research. Right, Laxus?" He looked eagerly towards the leader of their group, but Laxus didn't seem interested in letting Freed go.

As a matter of fact, Laxus stated, "Two dragon slayers would be good on a mission this easy. We could get it done quicker."

Bickslow cut in with, "Yeah, but you get motion sickness. What if you get attacked on the train like last time?" Laxus scowled at the reminder then went back to looking at the job.

"It really would be best for two girls to go. The job is to infiltrate a guild and sneak out with an old book. We could seduce our way in and get out with the book." Evergreen stated her case.

Bickslow added, "Or, I could go with Adam and just blow the place up. If I had to, I could take control over someone and get them to get the book for us. It'd be easy."

Freed mentioned, "You might get the wrong book. It's supposed to be about ancient spells and portal users. The text isn't even in the Lancet or Fiore language, and I'm the only one who knows more script than any of you."

Laxus snarled, "Yeah, but it's also in a place riddled with lightning storms. It would make me the best option since it doesn't affect me."

"And, again, I point out motion sickness," Bickslow chimed.

With an exasperated sigh, Adamine watched the four mages bicker. She had to admit, though, Bickslow had a point. It would be a bad idea for Laxus to escort her since they both suffered from motion sickness, but the place was riddled with lightning. They would be a fierce combo if the infiltration came to a battle.

Still, there was the matter of _them_, the Lancet mages that had been hunting her down ever since she ran away. Adamine had told Evergreen about Exile, four rouge mages who were owned by the Lancet nobility for their crimes. They were after her, and if they captured her, they would be permitted to leave the kingdom to be free mages. Adamine couldn't afford to be caught by them. Not when she had so much on the line.

The man that had tried to take her on the train had been spy. Adamine also suspected that the manticore had been Exile's doing as well. Adam needed someone who would have her back when she was the most vulnerable. Laxus was an obvious no.

That left Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed. Bickslow's ability to control souls would be great in an infiltration mission, but Adam didn't know how far his reach extended with his Seith Magic. Spyro, the Seith Mage that had adopted Adamine, had been able to control souls. His reach could extend the length and height of the Fairy Tail guild, but that was only because he was older and more practiced. Adamine wasn't sure Bickslow was anywhere near Spyro's level.

Freed was a logical choice since he was multilingual, but that only mattered if they even got the book in the first place. Since Adam didn't know his magic, she wasn't sure how good he'd be in a search and retrieve.

Evergreen wouldn't be a bad idea. She was very strong and had a plan with that seduction word she'd used earlier. Even though Adamine had no clue what that word meant, it was probably a good plan if she was so confidant in it.

Still, Adamine couldn't think with all this noise. Every second the group argued, they got louder and louder and louder. Adamine thought her head was going to burst. Not even the loudest setting on Laxus's sound pods was helping shut them out.

After dealing with it for a few moments more, Adamine slammed her hands down on the table. "Alright!" she cried out.

The four froze in their tracks to stare shocked at her sudden outburst. "I have an idea," she proposed, looking into the eyes of a grumpy, blonde mage.

"And?" he grumbled.

"We'll draw straws."

"Draw straws," Evergreen dumbly stated.

"Yes, the gods Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus drew straws to see who would rule over which realm. Why couldn't we?" Freed stared at Adamine as if she was the smartest woman in the world for making that reference, and she cast him a shy grin.

"Funny that we have a Zeus and Hades sitting right here with us," Evergreen irritably mentioned. Her slim hands motioned to Laxus and Bickslow.

"Hardy har har, Evergreen. You're cracking me up. Seriously. This is my laughing face." Adamine retorted, pointing to her stoic expression. "But, do any of you have a better idea because I would looove to hear it?" When she only received blank stares from everyone and a scowl from Laxus, Adamine added, "No? Didn't think so."

Adamine plucked a stick up from the ground and spun her back to the group. "And, no peeking," she warned. After snapping three pieces into equal lengths and a fourth one shorter, she spun back around. Evergreen was yawning in annoyance, fanning herself as well. Freed looked interested in what Adam would do next. Laxus looked… well. It was safe to say he had his chronic bitch face going on. Bickslow was grinning in a particularly suspicious way. "You peeked," she accused.

"You got evidence for that?" He stuck his tongue out at her, and Adamine narrowed her eyes at him.

She pointed from her eyes to his. "I've got my eyes on you, Tongue Boy." He just gave her a smug grin.

With her hands still covering the ends of the sticks, Adamine reached out to the group. "Okay, now draw."

Eagerly, Freed took his piece of the broken stick. Evergreen went next. Bickslow was third, and Laxus took the last. When Bickslow flaunted the shortest stick with glee, Adamine's eyes narrowed further.

Again, she accused, "You peeked!"

"Did not! Babies, did I look?" He glanced cheerfully towards his totems. "No!" they all snickered like children. Oh, yeah. He totally peeked.

Still, there wasn't anything Adamine could do about it. She had her back turned the whole time, so unless he had X-ray vision or a Seith Mage trick she didn't know about… Wait a second. "You looked at my soul!"

"Oi! You said no peeking. You didn't say we couldn't use magic," he sniggered. "Besides, I looked at your soul. Not the sticks. I didn't peek. I rest my case."

The whole group let out a unanimous groan.

"Well, I guess that settles it then," Freed admitted. "Will you be leaving tonight or tomorrow?"

Adamine glanced back to Bickslow who was still reveling in his newfound victory. "He looks like he's in good shape. How about tonight?"

An arm abruptly wrapped around Adam's shoulders, and Bickslow chimed, "Sounds good to me, Stoner."

"Uhhhh. Get it off me," she whined.

A sudden glance was shared between Evergreen and Freed then a subtle nod. Adamine didn't have a second to figure out what was going on between them before Evergreen was shuffling Adam out of the place. She mentioned, "Need to get you proper clothes for seduction."

* * *

><p>Bickslow felt a particular tingling in his nose when Adamine walked up to the train station with a leather backpack strapped onto her. A nose bleed felt eminent when she met up with him wearing the tiniest pair of black leather shorts attached to equally black suspenders. The crop top she wore revealed more than it covered, and the skull and crossbones that decorated her voluptuous breasts looked suspiciously like the ones on his shoulders. From the camo bandana in her hair to her black combat boots, the Stoner was dominatrix material.<p>

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Adam wondered. She rubbed hard at her face, pulling the hand back to see if anything came off. When nothing did, she glanced up at him.

"Huh. Na. Come on, or we'll miss the train to Kunugi," he turned in an almost robotic way until realizing Adam wasn't following. "What's wrong with you?"

"Yeah. Uh, Bickslow, about that train… How about no?"

"No?"

"Yeah. How about we don't take the train and just walk there?"

"That'd be a waste of time, Adam. It'd add an extra day to a two day long trip."

She pressed her fingers together in a nervous way that was surprisingly adorable. "Yeah, but say I got attacked on the train and you got beat up. I'd be sitting there like a duck until I got off the train," she admitted, glancing up at him shyly from underneath those spiky lashes of hers.

That familiar sensation swept through him so hard, but Bickslow kicked it to the far left of his brain. He didn't have time for that right now. "You don't think that I can handle things?"

"Oh, no. It's not that. It's not that at all. I was raised with Seith Mages. I know their strengths, but what if we just skipped the train and walked to Kunugi? I'd get exercise. You'd get exercise. Maybe, we'd have even more impressive muscle tone when we got to Litmoun. It would benefit the both of us." She gave him a big grin to hopefully get him to change his mind.

Bickslow just mentioned, "You are so stalling." When the whistle for the train's departure signaled, he plucked Adamine up by the backpack and hauled her off. "Come on, Stoner. We have stuff to do."

"Stuff. Things. We could have just walked there!" she whined.


	12. Stalker

Stalker

The stoner was draped out over the seat of the train like a sacrifice. She had a hand over her eyes. One athletic leg draped off the side of the bench. Her other hand was laying on the dirty train floor. She wailed, "I'm gunna die!"

Bickslow just snickered. With his babies resting inside of his head instead of around him, he was enjoying the conversations going on throughout his souls. Their most popular topic? Adamine.

The four dolls apparently all had the same opinion of the adamantine dragon slayer. They liked her, and they weren't the only one. Bickslow even got a kick out of the oddly familiar female. She had a sense of humor, took everything in stride, and was loyal. That was obvious enough by her need to get more information to find her companion.

She emanated this friendliness despite her social anxiety. It was the thing that made people turn their heads to get a glimpse of her even as she sunk into Bickslow's side like a tick. It was obvious she didn't spend much time in large crowds. Bickslow could relate. He was a recluse in Fairy Tail. The only people he ever really spent time with was Laxus, Ever, and Freed. Anyone else he kept a distance from.

It wasn't like they were scared of him. Oh, yeah. They were _wary_ because he could see into their souls, but they definitely weren't scared. Fairy Tail mages were too dumb to know fear. He just preferred to stay introverted. That was just the way he dealt with his own social anxiety.

Adamine was different though. It was apparent that she wanted to interact with the others in the guild. She just didn't look like she knew how to do it, so she glued herself to him or Laxus when they walked her through a large group.

Said dragon slayer let out another uncomfortable moan and curled in on herself. Gripping her stomach, she whined, "How much longer until we get there? I swear, I'm gunna die."

Snickering, Bickslow reminded, "You've got two more hours. We just left Onibus."

"Two. More. Hours," she whimpered under her breath. The slayer curled up tighter with a look of pure agony.

"How did you deal with this before? You had to have taken a ship to get to Fiore," he commented, suddenly reminded by the fact that she was a foreigner.

"Pearl," she grumbled. "Pearl would let me lay in her lap, and she would run her fingers through my hair. She used Heaven Magic to cure the motion sickness." Adamine cracked open one eye and glanced at Bickslow's lap as if she were checking for vacancy.

Bickslow jerked his gaze away from the stoner's hopeful gaze. He grumbled, "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Instantly, green eyes flashed in front of him. Pale pink lips pressed against the side of his exposed face, and Adamine cheered, "Oh, thank you. Thank you. I temporarily love you!" The small female scooted him over with surprising strength then curled up against his lap like a kitten.

Face changing color, Bickslow kept his eyes to the ceiling above him. When Adamine snagged his hand and put it on her head, he finally glanced down. It wasn't like she could tell with his visor on and whatnot but whatever.

Adamine threatened, "Unless you want me to barf all over your nice dark purple jeans, I suggest you start petting me." Her green eyes were hinting at playfulness, but her obvious displeasure at her illness was what got Bickslow to put his calloused hand on Adam's head. She curled against his touch just like a happy feline would, and Bickslow had to go back to staring at the ceiling to keep his face from changing colors.

"This has got to be a dragon slayer thing," he muttered to the sky. When he expected a response back, all he got was a light purring. Raising his dark brow, Bickslow glanced back towards Adamine.

She wasn't asleep yet, but her eyes were heavy lidded. They fell to half-mast as his long hands set about to stroking her brunette mane. Adamine's pouty mouth parted to let loose a girlie yawn, and when she wrapped her arms around his thigh, Bickslow nearly lost it.

"Sort of curious as to how this would have went if Ever would have come instead of me," Bickslow mentioned under his breath. Still, for some reason he didn't think he would have passed up the chance.

Right now, Bickslow was given a clear display of Adamine's bra. It was camo like her bandana. A small pink, polka dotted ribbon tied between her large breasts. Huh. Camo and pink dots. Whodathunkit? Surprisingly hot.

Not only did Bickslow get a clear view down her shirt, he also got the sight of Adamine's rock hard abdomen. In sleep her stomach muscles twitched, tightening to define those six blocks of muscle. Even lower, Bickslow could see the curves of her ass pressed tight against those leather shorts. Lower than that, he saw how silky smooth her legs were before they disappeared beneath her combat boots.

Was that a tightening between his legs? Oh, yeah.

Still, Bickslow kept running his fingers through her silky hair. He was rewarded when Adam began to massage his thigh in her sleep. Ugh! This was a whole new kind of torture for him. He didn't want her to stop, but it was kind of causing a chain reaction with his hormones that he totally didn't want to ruin the moment with.

So, did she do this with her female companion? If that was the case, did that make her bisexual? Well, judging by how ignorant she was of his sexual innuendos, he would have to say no.

With an inward groan that was relayed off by the four souls he traveled with, Bickslow decided to lean his own head back on the faux leather of the train seat. As his eyes closed behind his visor, Bickslow sent one of his souls out to patrol the train for anyone that might want to come ruin this for him.

* * *

><p>"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" a voice eagerly chimed. There was a strange movement in his lap that had Bickslow cracking open one eye, and when he saw Adam was wriggling around on top of him, he was tempted to fall back asleep. Or, at least look like he was asleep. "Come oooon! Wake up!"<p>

A rough shake finally got him to open up both of his eyes, and he reared back at the sight of Adamine so close to his face. A sharp pain shot through his extended tongue. Leaping straight up out of the chair, Bickslow howled, "You bit me! You freaking bit me!" His hand shot to press against a small fang mark that went clean through his tattooed tongue. What the hell? Who the hell wakes someone up like that?

Adamine beamed. Her arms were draped on either side of the bench, and the droplet of blood she was wiping from her mouth was proof enough. Bickslow might have enjoyed the sight had he not been bleeding from the mouth. She looked sassy sitting there with her legs crossed and an air of confidence about her. Chin raised, she explained, "Freed said for me to do what I thought was best when it came to waking you up. So, yes. I bit you. Is there a problem?"

"Of bloody course there's a problem! You don't just bite someone awake!"

Adamine's smile got impossibly wider, and she hopped up from the seat. The way her breasts bounced nearly made Bickslow stop complaining. Nearly.

"Come on, you overgrown baby. The train's going to start moving again if we don't get off of it." Adamine's face flushed green at the thought. When Bickslow didn't budge an inch, she snatched up his hand. Her body shuffled faster. "Seriously. Let's go. I will die if I have to ride that rickety death trap again."

Still holding his bleeding tongue, Bickslow felt himself tripping over his own feet as Adamine charged her way as far from that train as she could possibly get. For someone with so many worries, she didn't let them get her down. Just what kind of soul was she?

Bickslow decided to check it out. His eyes flared just the lightest of greens, and he raised his brows in surprise.

Adamine didn't have a normal soul. Typically, the soul was the same color of the magic a mage used. Adamine's was different. Her soul was an earthy green that glistened in happiness the further they got from the busy train station, but that wasn't it. There was also this large shape that extended from her body. The boundaries of her soul's enclosure should have been the size of her curvy body. Instead of being contained by that, there was a massive dragon shape. The soul was spiked and grey. It rested a claw on the shoulder of her soul and laid its head atop her head. The tail of the dragon wrapped around Adamine's leg, and as if sensing it was being looked at, the soul moved. Black eyes opened up, and Bickslow suddenly felt a rush of memories flood his head.

Instead of falling victim to them like he had this morning, Bickslow shook his head hard. "Do you even know where you're going?" he wondered. "Where you're going!" his dolls echoed.

Adamine glanced back at him innocently. The hair that wasn't tucked away against the camo headband fell into her face. "Yeah. Why? Do you not know where you're going?"

"I know where I'm going!" he snorted. His babies echoed his words.

Adamine spun around to walk backwards in the midst of a busy street. She had her hands on the straps of her backpack and was studying him with an educated expression. "Then, why did you ask?"

Bickslow scowled. She had reversed his words on him. So very much like Freed did… This wasn't going to be a fun journey if he was going to have to put up with word games the whole trip there. Instead of letting it get to him, Bickslow taunted, "Just wondering."

"You're an odd one," Adamine snickered. She spun on her heel and abruptly froze.

"That's not something I hear often," Bickslow stated in all sarcasm. His eyes were looking over her head and searching for a directory that might lead them the right direction to Litmoun. When he nearly tripped over a stone still dragon slayer, he let out an, "Oof!"

"Oi! What's wrong with you?" he wondered, glancing down only to flush. Adamine hadn't tried to scramble away from him at the close contact. Instead, she sunk into him. Her body was curvy and warm against his. When she snagged the purple material that covered his pants, he was forced to follow her.

* * *

><p>Adamine ignored the resistance of the tall mage trying not to follow her. She just kept on marching. One of the mages that had been following her, not the one on the train but another, was in this town. She didn't think that the scythe wielder was a mage of Exile, but he could have been working for them.<p>

The mage had wild white hair. He was bare-chested with a scarf around his neck and tattered pants. Across his chest were elegant swirls of dark blue tattoos. Adam had seen him before. When she had first entered Fiore, he had been there.

He haunted her like a phantom. He was always there, lurking, but he never did anything. He just watched her. It was more unnerving than being attacked. At least, with an attack Adamine could do something about it. She didn't know what to do with a stalker.

"What's wrong with you?" Bickslow asked. His eyes had to have been scanning behind his visor. Still, Adamine didn't want them to attract any attention to them.

She tightened her hold on Bickslow and drug him further away. "The guy with the scythe. He's been following me for the past week." Adamine slipped the both of them into the shadows of a store's canopy. "He never approaches me. He just stands there. Watching. But, he's everywhere I go," she explained.

"So, you have a stalker?" Bickslow mentioned. His dolls taunted, "Stalker!" Instead of sounding happy about it, they almost sounded pissed. "Want me to do something about him?"

Adamine chanced a glance to the white haired man walking through the streets. No. Walking wasn't the correct term. He was stalking, just like a sleek jungle cat after prey. She knew that walk. She did it herself when she hunted in the wild. It called to the predator inside of her, but the calculating stare he held as he approached them kept Adamine holding onto the fabric of Bickslow's clothing.

"I don't know, Bickslow. I think that we should-" Adamine's voice was cut off. Her body was suddenly yanked backwards by some unseen force. The hand holding onto Bickslow released, and she let out an animalistic snarl at the surprise attack.

"Go, babies!" Bickslow snapped. His totems shot a beam of magical energy into the shadowy hand pulling Adamine into the darkness.

"Well, I guess this isn't going to be as smooth as I'd hoped," a black haired man mentioned. He slipped out from the darkness and stood with a cocky grin stretching across his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, I love Adamine's typical motion sickness phrase of "I'm gunna DIE!" I'm trying to remember to keep putting that at least once when she's on a moving vehicle. It's her phrase.<strong>

**Wow, I'm surprised I was able to put so much up today. I had done a lot of writing without posting anything, so I've been spontaneously posting here lately. I hope you enjoy.**

**Thank you all for doing your thing of reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing. It's much appreciated. Have a good day!**


	13. In a Hurry

In a Hurry

Adamine braced herself when she was surrounded by mages. Back to back she and Bickslow stood like two berserkers ready for battle. She had her adamantine blades jutting from her forearms, and Bickslow had his babies. They looked like a perfect team as their eyes narrowed on their opponents.

"I didn't know she had a fly for a bodyguard," the black haired man mentioned to the scythe wielder.

"Doesn't matter. We can crush a fly easily enough. Kageyama, you can handle this yourself. Can't you?" The white haired man leaped up in a _woosh_ of air and perched himself on his scythe.

The shadow mage gave a nod of his head, wicked grin still in place.

As the scythe wielder began to set off, Bickslow called, "Get him, babies!" A powerful blast of magic was gathered the fired skywards only to be caught in the palm of a massive shadow.

"Sorry, fly, but Erigor's a busy man. Can't let you intervene with the boss."

He looked ready to say more but Adamine charged forward. With her blade ready for impact she howled, "Listen, punk! I don't have any damned time for this!" The dark eyes of the mage widened to an impossible state. He shot up a wall of shadow, but Adamine easily sidestepped it to thrust her adamantine fist straight into the man's jawline.

As he was flying backwards, Adamine ducked down to deliver an uppercut. The man shot sky high. Adamine's blow used him like a projectile to fire away at the escaping creep. Once the two of them tumbled back down to earth, Mina snatched up Bickslow's hand once more. "Come on. Those two weren't even worth looking at. We have more important things to do."

Bickslow followed, jaw slack. Well, that was quick… Nevermind.

A whirlwind blew at their backs, and in an instant Adamine's march was intercepted by Erigor and Kageyama. She cocked her hip out. "I thought I told you that I don't have time for this."

Erigor tossed his comrade to the ground then leaped gracefully from his scythe. "Can't even handle a woman or a fly. What good are you, Kageyama? Want to get something done right. Have to do it yourself," he grumbled. The man snapped his neck to the left then to the right before settling into a battle stance. His fingertips ran the length of his scythe, and he snickered, "Alright, fly. I'll give you the first go."

Bickslow made a move, but Adamine put her hand out. "No, let me handle this creep. He needs to understand the meaning of in a hurry." He looked about to argue, but Adamine cast him a stone cold glare. It was so chilling that it even rivaled Evergreen's evil eye.

Adamine projected her blades out from her forearms and crouched down. She looked like a dragon ready to go in for the kill when she launched into attack. Instead of going into a forward jab, Adamine let her fist slide by Erigor's face. The diamond tipped blade glistened as it was stopped by the handle of Erigor's scythe.

Thinking he had the upper hand, the scythe wielder swept his foot across the concrete. He dropped Adamine to her knees. Just when he thought he could strike down with his scythe, Adam lunged forward. The scythe hit the gray sidewalk, and Erigor went flying from Adamine's tackle.

Wind flew up around their entangled bodies, and he projected a powerful gust to launch Adamine backwards. Her body slammed against a brick building. The hiss she let out was one of pain before she shot back in to attack.

She flung her fist out once more, but he blocked. Their limbs were a flurry of attack and shield. With every sling of her arm, Adamine snarled, "I. Am. In. A. Hurry!" Erigor spun his scythe to release another gust of wind, but Adamine slipped out of the way. She held herself up on her hands and delivered a mule kick straight to the white haired man's chest. Saliva spewed from his lips, but he was far from finished yet.

Snatching up his scythe, Erigor commanded, "Storm Bringer!" His left hand shot out, a purple magic circle forming. The blast unleashed a tornado's whirlwind, and Adamine was swept up in the blow. She snarled as blades of wind cut open her smooth skin. Her body went round and round before she was tossed to the ground. Instead of being disheartened by the pain, it looked like it was just making her even more angry.

Erigor leaped up to deliver his second attempt at a finishing blow. Bickslow was preparing to intervene until Adamine called, "Twin Shields of Lione!" Her arms stretched and shaped into adamantine plates. They resisted Erigor's blade, and Adamine released them to snatch Erigor.

"Adamine Kiss!" she roared. Her head snapped forward to launch into Erigor's face, and with a definitive crack, blood came spewing out of the man's nose. He howled in pain, but Adam didn't leave it at that. She rolled on top of the man. Fangs bared she got right in his face. "Roar of the Adamantine Dragon!" At point blank Erigor's skull was blasted by the tiny warrior's roar.

Bickslow was surprised his head was still there judging by the crater she made in the sidewalk.

"Erigor!" Kageyama cried from his position on the ground.

"You keep your whore mouth shut!" Adamine snarled. She hopped off the unconscious male's body and stalked forward. Her hips said bedroom, but her fangs said death. Claws ejected from each fingertip as she hauled the man up to her eye level.

In his face she growled, "Listen here, little boy. I'm a busy woman. I've got more important things to be doing than having a roll around with you and your girlfriend over there. If I ever see either one of your faces again, you won't have legs to run home back to mommy with. Ya got me?" For good measure, she let out the most animalistic snarl Bickslow had ever heard.

The man shivered in her claws, and when she released him, he melted into a boneless puddle on the sidewalk.

Her flaring green eyes whipped around on Bickslow, and he held his hands up in pleasant surrender. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," he snickered as she cooled off.

Adamine stepped over the shadow mage puddle on the ground and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm very sorry you had to see that, Bickslow. I will try to be in better control of my emotions next time. Now, we have to hurry. I have to find Black Pearl." She gave a feminine bow then rose up. The dragon had left and was replaced by a deceiving brunette angel. "Which direction leads to Litmoun again?"

Bickslow gave a grin with his tongue hanging out. Sweet Mavis this girl was sexy. "Just follow me." His babies cheered, "Follow me!" Suddenly, the idea of getting to Litmoun was having Bickslow all riled up.

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, Mina is so scary. I love it. I feel like she's an even better badass in Hunt and be Hunted than she was in Tablet and a Tome or Magical Massacre. Hmm. I don't know. When she destroyed an entire cave system, that was pretty cool. Then, there was that time in Magical Massacre where she kidnapped her kidnapper. Hmm. Hmm.<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed. I have to admit there's a reason for how short this chapter is. It's so full of anger, and I wanted to do a time skip. I felt it would be best to just cut it off instead of having a lot of time skips. I didn't want to confuse anyone. Or myself...**


	14. Spies

**Freed and Evergreen team up in this chapter. Despite the job only being for two mages, the two decide it would be best to spy on my partners. I hope you enjoy. Don't forget to review if you get the itch.**

* * *

><p>Spies<p>

The strange female beside him let out a lazy yawn as they walked through the woods. It was odd not having a woman complain about being out this late in the woods or walking on such hideous terrain. Bickslow hadn't heard a single complaint slip from Adamine's pouty, pink lips as they'd crossed rocky earth and rushing water. Actually, the younger girl seemed to be enjoying herself.

Even with that heavy backpack on her shoulders, Adamine leaped gracefully from slippery rock to slippery rock. Her emerald eyes studied the water with an almost starved expression on her face, and when her slightly pointed tongue slipped out to dab at her bottom lip, Bickslow knew what was on her mind. She was hungry.

Evergreen would have already started complaining by now. The moon was settling over the tree line, and they hadn't even set up camp. Ever would be grumbling about food and setting up for the night, but not Adamine. She was standing on another rock that led to the center of the river they were crossing. He was about to ask if she wanted him to catch something, but she beat him to it.

Had he not been watching, he would have missed the way spikes projected from her knuckles. He wouldn't have even seen it when she thrust her fist into the chilly water to pull her hand back with a dead fish on those four spines. Blood ran down her hand, but she acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Well, then again, he guessed that it was for someone who grew up in the wild like Natsu.

"You hungry?" she asked after plucking the skewered fish from her hand to pull back for another attack. She sat quiet, stealthy. One hand was raised in the air. One knee was on the cold stone. Two eyes were narrowed in concentration. The predator that had rocked Erigor and Kageyama's worlds was back, but instead of brimming with rage, she was silent.

Instead of answering, Bickslow put down his own pack and loped towards the river. Instead of using anything like Adamine's stealthy concentration, he used his eyes. Although he wasn't able to control the souls of animals like he could people, Bickslow was able to use his talent to see through murky water. This way, he could direct his totems to send a thin spear of magic through one of the aquatic creatures.

In a few seconds, Bickslow was tied with the dragon slayer. Each of them had one dead fish a piece. Her eyes glanced up to him, and at the same time, mischievous grins crept up their faces. Oh, it was so on.

"Whoever gets five fish in the next two minutes doesn't have to set up camp," he wagered with his tongue tossed out of his mouth.

Adamine flashed her pearly white fangs. "You're on, Tongue Boy. Just don't start crying when I…" She thrust her fist down to snatch two writhing fish on her extended spines. "…kick your ass to the curb."

Bickslow retaliated by spearing three fish with his magic. They floated up to the surface, and his totems retrieved them automatically. "Bring it, Stoner."

* * *

><p>Freed pushed apart the brush in the way of his view. "This really is rude. You know," he mentioned despite his eyes being fully engaged in the scene before him.<p>

Evergreen snapped her fan shut. "Don't tell me that when you're the one spying on them!" she hissed as softly as she could.

"It was your idea, though."

"But, you're the one looking."

"Only because you don't want to get dirty."

Evergreen gave a shrug then looked at the heels she'd recently purchased. They were beautiful. A rose pink heel with a dainty bow on the ankle. It was such a shame that she actually had to get them dirty just to come up here to spy on Bickslow and Adamine, but such was the job of a fairy. It couldn't be helped.

Besides, Evergreen had just recently become Adamine's self-proclaimed fairy god-sister, so it was her duty to make sure that Bickslow was the perfect gentleman to her diamond studded friend.

Evergreen crouched closer to the bushes and pulled a stray limb or two to the side, so she could spy alongside Freed. Freed had recently decided that he would serve Adamine, just not as loyally as he would Laxus. He would do what was in his power to serve one of the most brilliant and entertaining women he'd met. Thus, the two of them had decided to create the most wonderful team known to Fairy Tail matchmaking: Team EverFreed. The two of them combined could even put Mira to shame. Evergreen just knew it.

But, once she caught sight of Adamine setting up the camp instead of the other way around, Evergreen's brow rose. Uh. Excuse her. The man was supposed to set up the camp. Not the woman. "What on earth is he doing?" she grumbled.

Freed explained, "If you hadn't been drooling over the state of your new shoes, you would have realized the two of them made a bet to see who could catch the most fish. Bickslow won."

Evergreen still scowled. That was not very gentleman-like. Then again, this was Bickslow they were talking about. He was dense with romance but all suggestive when it came to anything perverted. Or anything he could make that way.

As a matter of fact, she didn't see him near Adamine. The girl's hands were digging around in her backpack. She raised her index finger up to check the direction of the wind then tossed down their sleeping bags. After that, her hands reached to her suspenders.

She snapped them off then went her boots. Evergreen had no idea what the girl was doing until she caught sight of Bickslow leaned back in the river. The river had carved out a quiet niche where it ran slower. Behind him, a fire crackled where ten fish rested, skewered.

Still, Evergreen's mouth dropped when she noticed Adamine slipping from her leather shorts. Beside her, Freed's face slowly rose to red. The blush inched steadily up from his throat to his scalp. Ever could practically see steam rolling out of his ears when Adamine happily waltzed nude to the water.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I didn't feel like the next portion would fit well into this chapter. Y'all have a good day!<strong>


	15. Interruptions

Interruptions

The grass felt like heaven on her bare feet. Wind smoothed itself over the six slabs of muscle Adam worked every day for. The moon even seemed to come out of tree cover just for her to bask in its rising glow.

It had been so long since she'd been bare of the clothing humans had to wear for some unknown reason. She hated the constraints of clothing. She was wild. She was raised in the natural world. Clothing was a hassle. It always got caught on thorn bushes and craggy rocks. If you were naked, your skin hardened against nature. It became harder to harm. Adamine's body was riddled with scars that had made her tougher. Callouses had grown on her skin to prevent harm on her body. She was nothing like she soft, squishy women in modern society.

Unfortunately, though, Firmalione had taught her to wear clothing when in cities and towns. Her mother of the terra firma had made sure that Adamine had clothing to sport when she went on errands that would make life simpler for Mina. Adamine could have stuck her tongue out at her mother dragon, but she didn't.

Instead, Adamine stepped out from the grove of evergreens to slip herself into the water. The cool water ran across her body and was already doing its job to clean the muck from her skin. She let out a low purr from her chest then leaned back along the stone embankment. It wasn't until she smelt blood that she glanced up to the comrade she'd joined in the water.

A caramel brow rose at the metallic scent, and Mina tilted her head at Bickslow holding a hand over his nose. "Are you okay?" she wondered innocently.

He nodded his head feverishly despite the blood leaking from his skin and to the water. Still, Adamine leaned closer to him. "I have some sage in my backpack. Want me to go get it? It's good for healing a bleeding wound."

"Nope. Nope. I'm fine." He clamped his nose even tighter when Adamine turned her back to go towards their camp. As if to stop her, his babies cried, "Fine! Fine!"

She cast him a cautious look. Her eyes surveyed his form. Finally, she slipped back into the water. "If you continue to bleed like that, you might pass out, but if you don't want my help, I'm not going to do anything. You'll just have to bleed to death."

"I think I'd die happy," he mentioned, and his dolls immediately repeated the statement.

Bickslow wasn't sure whether this was his lucky day or a disaster waiting to happen. So far? Best. Day. Ever.

He had known Adamine was toned. He just hadn't gotten a good look at how much. Sweet Mavis, the woman had a body to kill for. Taut thighs. Voluptuous curves. Six bulges of muscle pressed up against her tight, pale skin and when she'd turned around to big him a view of her backside… The blood flow coming from his nose increased.

Now, he watched as she rested her back against the eroded stone. She looked like she was in heaven as she spread her arms out on either side of her. Her toned legs floated in the water, and he felt her tiny feet skim his leg for just the briefest of moments.

After wrestling his nose bleed for control, Bickslow finally regained his composure. He went back to his typical wide grin and swiped blood from his upper lip. "So, I take it you don't mind guys seeing you naked. Eh, Stoner?" he taunted, seeing if he could rile her up.

Adamine didn't let it get to her. As a matter of fact, she grinned back at him. "Just because you have different hardware than I do doesn't mean anything. Whether you're a male or not doesn't matter because I could still take you with both hands tied behind my back, Tongue Boy." Her eyes held a wicked glint to them, and suddenly, Bickslow felt that sense of familiarity creeping back up on him.

He knew this girl. It had to have been her because while they sat here in the river, Bickslow felt his memories overriding his sight. It brought him to a place in the woods where him and the Adamine doppelganger were swimming in a large pond. They were younger in his memory but not by much. The Adamine in his head looked slightly haunted, the same as this one.

Bickslow wondered what sort of thing could be haunting someone like her. She seemed so strong willed. She was as tough as the diamond she worked with. He couldn't imagine just anything being the ghost that followed her around like a plague.

A particular scar running from Adamine's collarbone to her elbow caught his eye. He asked, "What's that from?" If the woman wouldn't outright tell him why she was being hunted down, he could figure it out by asking indirect questions. And Evergreen said he wasn't smart.

Adamine's eyes went from the gaze hidden behind his visor to the marking on her shoulder. When a look of pure happiness crossed over her face, Bickslow's brows rose. He hadn't expected that expression. The tip of Adam's sharp fingernail ran the path of the scar. She explained, "My mother dragon, Firmalione, always trained me. One time I was too slow to dodge an attack. Her talons came down and one of them got me. I have plenty of scars from her claws."

The next thing Bickslow knew, Adamine tossed her leg up on a rock. The tingling feeling in his nose returned, but he forced it to shut off. No more nasal blood flow. Not today. Still, when her muscled calves showed off a scar running all the way from her ankle to beneath the water's surface, Bickslow's mind ran the trail all the way down.

Despite the direction of his thoughts, the two of them wound up trading battle stories like baseball cards. Adamine would explain a little bit about how she got this scar or that scar then Bickslow would go into detail on his own losses and wins in fights. It turned out in the end that Adamine had led a much more violent life than he did.

She explained, "To be a young mage in Lancet is to be a baby hawk in a nest. Everyone knows you can fly, so they all try to push you out of the tree at the earliest opportunity."

Every day was a fight for survival. When Firmalione left her at thirteen years of age, Adamine spent her life in the wild. She stole food when she couldn't catch wild animals. She was hunted by the guards of Lancet. Her guild had been destroyed in flames. She was even kidnapped as a child.

Adamine's hand reached up to the side of her face. "When the Lancet Dragon Priests kidnapped me, they marked me. Usually, I hide this tattoo behind a glamour spell, but…" Her fingertip traced a trail alongside her soft skin. With every movement, Bickslow could see black ink coming to like against her flesh.

He had wondered why Adamine's eyebrow was cut through in two places, and now he knew. The talon tip of two dragon wings went through those cuts in her brow. The wings were skeletal frames made into a tribal style. They spread out down both sides of her eye. When she closed her eye, Bickslow watched in astonishment as the tribal body of a dragon appeared on her eyelid. Adamine wasn't done there. The tattoo came down past her jaw line to her troat. The tail of the dragon made a twisting swoop before crawling its way back up her jaw. It made an arrow tip that pointed straight up at her eye.

"I've had this marking for so long. I started to hide it when I was fifteen because that's how the mages always found me," she explained. There was sadness in her voice, a deep kind of somber tone that called out to him.

Bickslow was far from a _fixer_. He couldn't care less about people's problems. He worshipped strength and fought for himself and his team. Everyone else was secondary to the ultimate conquest. But, this girl with her familiar face and her melancholy eyes called to him for some reason. Even sitting here naked, Bickslow's usually perverted mind wasn't focused on her exposed breasts. He wanted to know just who was hunting down this woman and for what reason did she look so haunted? He wanted to know, so that he could crush them.

Before he realized what he was doing, Bickslow stood up in the water. Liquid ran down his narrow hips before slipping quietly back into the water. His tan body reflected in the waving water.

Adamine raised a caramel brow at him, but she didn't make a word when he reached down to pull her face up by the chin. She couldn't tell where he was looking because of the deep shadows made by his visor. Still, she knew his eyes were focused on the tattoo lines running across her silky skin. She could feel his crimson gaze staring inside of her. He wasn't just looking at her marking. He was looking at her soul, and by the Dark Lord Zeref himself, her soul was damaged.

Entire chunks of her life had been eaten away. She had holes in her soul and deep gashes of pain that glared even brighter than the dark scars that littered her body. This woman was thoroughly damaged, but even with the darkness that ate away at her, there were brilliant, shimmering lights. Her determination to live and fight was so brilliant, so astounding. It made Bickslow desirous of her.

His body moved closer to her of its own accord. He felt like he was about to kiss her without fully acknowledging it, and he would have, too, had she not leaped from the river. A blade shot from her forearm. He thought it was about to get directed at him until she dashed into the bushes naked.

Blinking, Bickslow watched in astonishment as Freed and Evergreen were hauled out of the bushes by a fully naked woman. The tattoo that had been on her face was covered once more, and for some reason, Bickslow felt a warmth in his chest that he was the only one that saw it.

Then, he snarled at himself. Since when did he become such a big pansy?

To keep up his image, Bickslow hung his tongue out of his mouth and snickered, "You two looking for an eyeful?" His babies cheered, "Eyeful! Eyeful!"

"Oh, Mavis, Bickslow, put on some clothes! Put on some clothes!" Evergreen howled. Her fan covered her beet red face.

Freed looked stunned. His mouth was wide open, and he gawked at Adamine's bare body. She just stood there with her arms crossed under her breasts. The scowl she was giving the two of them should have been enough to send them scrambling away, but by the amount of blood spewing from the green haired mage's nose it didn't look like he still had the ability to walk. Suddenly, Freed's head flew back, and he tumbled to the ground.

Adam just shook her head. "I can't believe you two would follow us. What's next? Is Laxus going to show up too?"

A rustling in the bushes signaled his approach, and Adamine's scowl deepened. "Why am I not surprised?" she grumbled.

"Whoa! Is there an orgy going on that I don't know about?" he wondered with a hand over his eyes. "Bickslow, put on some damned clothes!" Then, his fingers parted for him to check out Adamine's rock hard body glistening with water dripping all down it. "You, though, I don't mind."

The Adamantine Dragon Slayer rolled her big, green eyes. Agitatedly, she tossed on her clothes while grumbling, "I never got to even wash my hair." After clasping her camo bra around her slim body, she looked up to the intruders. "I thought the mission had a two mage quota."

Laxus leaned seductively against a tree. His brawny arms crossed over his chest. "It is. Gramps thinks I'm on another mission. I don't know why those two are here." His eyes roved her body oh, so slowly. "Though, I'm glad I showed up."

"As much as I appreciate it," she explained, "I don't need the extra help." She put her leather shorts on then perched her pert ass on a stone. She hiked her leg up to latch on a boot. Her hands moved in agitated motions that displayed her pent up aggression.

Laxus couldn't tell if she was angry at being found in the nude or at having her near make out session interrupted. By the way she was acting, he felt like it was more along the lines of she didn't really want their help. Strange. The other women in the guild would have been more pissed at being caught naked. Adamine was entertaining.

Once Adam had finished up with setting her clothing to rights, she leaned back on the boulder and plucked a grilled fish from the skewer. Her strong legs crossed in an unintentionally feminine way, but the image was ruined when she snagged the fish with her fangs. She gave an un-ceremonial yank of her jaw.

"So, why'd you follow us?" Adamine wondered, cutting straight to the chase.

Evergreen removed her fan from her face as soon as Bickslow had put on a pair of pants. She explained, "As your Fairy God-Sister, it is my job to make sure no harm comes to you. Freed agreed, and he joined me." She motioned to the man who had smoothly regained his composure.

Freed adjusted the collar of his vest then nodded. "Indeed. You're new to taking guild missions, so it would be good for us to all go together. I was concerned, so I came anyway. The master believes Ever and I are on a mission in Onibus."

"Uh-huh," Adamine stated with suspicion in her voice. She took another chunk out of the trout then turned her gaze to Laxus. "And, you?"

He shrugged. "Thought it would be entertaining to see you come running to me for help."

Bickslow's babies snickered at that. The man himself was trying to keep from joining in their laughter. He'd seen Adamine at work. In the couple of days he'd been around her, she'd taken down a manticore, sent Erigor and Kageyama into another dimension, and knocked one creep straight into outer space. Bickslow was sure she could handle herself.

She was the Raijinshuu's very own Erza, maybe even a Mira.

Adamine let out a bout of laughter at Laxus's comment. She gave him a smug grin. "Oh, really. Laxus, I have yet to see you do anything that proves you're any better a fighter than I am. If you would so kindly prove yourself to me, I _might_ consider running to you." Her eyes glittered with obvious challenge, and Laxus responded.

His steely gaze smoldered in her direction. While the Raijinshuu gaped at Adamine's daring, the two of them strolled closer to each other. Adamine's hips swayed in that cocky way, and Laxus's shoulders got broader at the challenge. The intensity between the two of them was enough to heat up a room.

The two stood toe to toe. Freed stared in astonishment. Evergreen's fan went into hyper speed at the tension. Bickslow was trying to figure out just how Adamine thought she was going to be able to defeat Master Laxus.

When Adamine's forearm turned to adamant and she extended her favorite blade, Laxus let his own arm light up with electricity. "Gemstone isn't a good conductor of electricity, Sparkler. Think you can get past my guard?"

"I can get past anything you throw at me, Stoner. Bring it, little girl."

"Oh, Sparkler, I've done brought it." The two of them stepped back. Adamine's gaze never left Laxus's.

"Adamine, please, don't do it!" Freed pleaded to his new comrade.

She just smiled at him.

Bickslow on the other hand cheered, "Wipe the floor with her, Laxus!" He may have thought Adamine was tough, but there was no way in hell she could defeat Laxus.

Evergreen stood there, obviously torn between the two mages. She gave a frustrated hiss then called out, "I'm gunna be so pissed off at whoever loses this!"

* * *

><p><strong>Woo! Prelude to a smack DOWN. I can't wait to see who wins the fight. Oh, I have ideas of course, but you'll just have to wait for them. (Insert mischievous laughter here)<strong>

**Tell me what you think! As you all know, I love hearing from you, and don't believe for a second that your comments go unnoticed. I always incorporate suggestions into my work. (As long as it flows with the plot of course)**

**You all have a lovely day, and for my USA readers have a fabulous Thanksgiving! I know I ate way too much, and I am completely pleased with myself. :)**

**Good night. Good day.**


	16. Lightning Gem

**Yahoo! Fight scene! Is it just me or is Bickslow's betting always entertaining?**

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><p>Lightning Gem<p>

Laxus's entire body buzzed with electricity as he stared the dragon slayer down. The intensity between them was nearly palpable. It was so strong that even the Raijinshuu backed off. Well, everyone except for Bickslow who was sitting in a tree. How he got up there, Laxus had no clue, but that wasn't the point here.

The point was proving his dominance over the sassy dragon slayer who thought she was stronger than him. They had half a day to get to Litmoun. They had plenty of time for a showdown to prove that Laxus was the alpha dragon in this situation.

Power fueled his body up. He was ready to go as soon as Freed released the rune he'd placed between them.

Adamine looked the same. Her body was crouched, ready to lunge. The smile on her face was the goofiest thing he could imagine. He probably would have laughed at it had those fangs of hers not lengthened.

She was going to go all out. Laxus could see it in the sharpness of her claws. The nails had already changed to curled, shimmering stone. Those claws were meant for gripping and shredding. He had to make sure he stayed out of her reach.

There was a huge flaw in her desire to fight him, and that was the fact that Laxus used long range magic. Unless Adamine was quick on her feet, Laxus could toy with her before delivering the final blow.

Freed looked to Adamine then to Laxus. After deciding that the two were ready, he unsheathed his blade. As soon as the tip of the sword met the line of purple runes and released, Adamine shot forward with more speed than Laxus had expected.

Her body was on him in an instant. Laxus could barely thrust his hand upwards to knock her deadly blade away from his face. Wind kissed his skin, and Adamine howled, "Look alive, Glitter Boy!"

"Glitter Boy," he snarled before directing a lightning bolt towards her. She whirled out of the way with a huge smile decorating her face. "Let's see what you think of long distance!"

"Long distance, you say?" Tossing an innocent expression on her face, Adamine didn't even dodge the powerful blast of electricity barreling towards her. Instead, she waited for it. The golden spear shot the earth skyward, but she stood there sporting an adorable patience. As soon as the bolt came within an arm's length, Adamine's sweet façade disappeared.

Her entire body shot to gemstone, and she thrust her hands into the dirt. "I don't just know basic Slayer magic! Gemstone Pillar Heavenwards!" She pulled her hands up from the ground to shoot a massive plate of stone up from the earth.

Laxus gaped as she rode the stone away from his attack. "Stone Pillar Diagonal!" she commanded. The massive plate diverted from its course to dive straight to Laxus.

Firing electricity around his body, the man braced for impact instead of dodging. The plate of stone continued to press against his body, but he took the chance to snag a hold of Adamine. His grip latched around her ankle, and he tossed her roughly to the ground. Just as he expected, the rocks that had made up the pillar crumbled away.

Adam's body landed with a hard thud, but she wasn't even down for a second. Her claw tipped fingers darted towards him. Snagging a hold of Laxus, she smashed his fist into his shoulder at the same time that his knee shot up to her abdomen. Air shot from the two of them in a violent whoosh.

"Should we stop them before they kill each other?" Freed asked Evergreen.

The woman fanned her face faster. "I-I'm not sure."

From the tree above the battle, Bickslow howled, "Woo-hoo! Laxus, beat her down! I got a thousand jewel on you! Get her!" His legs shot out in front of him, and his arms flew into the air. He looked like a kid watching his favorite comic on TV for the first time. A skewer from the grilled trout flew out to the battlefield from his excited hands.

Adamine flipped Bickslow the finger right as she swept Laxus's legs out from beneath him. He fell to the ground, but not before Adam got fried with a bolt of electricity. Her body didn't go adamantine at the shock, so her skin was hit directly.

Smoke blew all around her. Even weakened, Adamine thrust her leg out. She caught Laxus in a roundhouse kick that threw him into the water. He splashed loudly, but instead of bearing a scowl on his face, Laxus's face lit up with a grin at the blow.

The cocky smirk lasted despite the fact that his drenched body could no longer use his lighting slayer abilities. "Hand to hand now, Sparkler!" Adamine howled. She bopped around like a hyperactive boxer. Instead of waiting for him to join her, Adamine charged towards the river.

Her fist shot forward, but Laxus delivered an uppercut to her tricep. Cramping involuntarily, her hand flopped uselessly to her side. He took the opportunity to thrust his palm straight into her chest.

Head flying backwards, Adamine crashed into the water. She splashed back up, and her crazy messy, wavy hair flew away from her head in a perfect arch. "Adamantine Dragon's-"

"Lightning Dragon's-"

"ROAR!" the screamed together. The blast cut through the water. Stones shot up from the earth at Adamine's roar. Lightning infused Laxus's roar. The two of them were evenly matched when the blast subsided, and before the water could come back to fill the hole in the river, the two were charging towards each other.

Both of their hands flew back. Adamine raised her fist for the blow. Laxus drew back to end this here and now. At the same time, their blows thrust forward. Laxus's fist caught Adamine in the forehead. Adamine caught him in the jaw.

Dots skittered around in their vision. Bloody grins came from their lips. As their bodies fell back from the ultimate impact, darkness swallowed them up in its great maw.

* * *

><p>The Thunder Legion blinked. Wait a second. Had they seen that right? Had a woman just T-TIED with Master Laxus, Thunder God of Fairy Tail?<p>

Freed stood. All the color had drained from his body and his jaw hung unhinged from his face. Evergreen had fallen to her knees in shock, and Bickslow tumbled from the tree in astonishment.

It wasn't until the water began to fill up around the two dragon slayer's bodies that Freed snapped out of it. "Laxus!" he cried, running to the dragon slayer.

Bickslow stood there scratching his head for a second. After a while, he withdrew his skull wallet then tossed one thousand jewel to a flabbergasted Evergreen. "Damn it. I can't believe I lost that bet. The hell were you thinking, Laxus!" He finally dove off to help Freed retrieve the slayers from the river.

Still, Evergreen sat there on her knees. Her lips were parted. She just couldn't believe it. Laxus, the great and powerful Laxus, had just tied with Adamine Terra, foreigner and stranger to Fairy Tail. The princess of Lancet was… frightening.

Once her eyes stopped bugging from her skull, Evergreen rose up to intercept Bickslow. "I'm her Fairy God-Sister; I will take of her!"

Evergreen dashed forward. Bickslow had already hauled the woman up fireman style. She hung loosely from his shoulder. Her eyes were swirls of unconsciousness, and her arms draped uselessly against the man's back.

With a slow grin, Evergreen used a healing spell. "Fairy Cure," she mentioned. Her hands lit up in a golden glow as she ran the light across Adamine's broken lip and other miscellaneous wounds. Laxus definitely hadn't gone easy on her.

By the looks of their leader, she hadn't gone easy on him either. A gash ran down the side of Laxus's forehead. Blood trickled against his handsome, blonde head. Freed was already writing runes on the ground to heal him quicker.

Once Bickslow laid the Adamantine Dragon Slayer on the ground, Freed set about writing runes around her. The two slayers were laid unconscious next to each other, but for once in a long time, the scowl that typically graced Laxus's face was gone. He actually appeared to be smirking in his sleep. Adamine looked to be doing the same.

"Laxus," Freed whimpered, "how were you defeated?" He sat on his knees while watching over the blonde slayer.

* * *

><p><strong>Laxus: We didn't tie.<strong>

**Adamine: We so tied.**

**Laxus: No, we didn't. I just went easy on you.**

**Adamine: Uh. Huh. That explains the fact that I knocked your ass into an alternate dimension!**

**(Random physical scuffling)**


	17. Keep on Keeping on

Keep On Keeping On

Sunlight was what woke up Adamine in the morning. Well. Actually no. When Adamine popped open one eye, the sun was barely filtering in from the horizon. She could still see the darkness of the moon's descent above her. When all of Adamine's senses finally came to, she realized that what had woken her was Freed.

The green haired mage was blowing a whistle. He was wearing his jeans and boots, but his vest was neatly folded on top of a red sleeping bag. He had also taken off his white button up. His bare chest met the morning sun as he did… jumping jacks…

The hell! Who the hell does jumping jacks at five in the freaking morning?

Adamine let out a groan then shoved the sleeping bag over her head. From the inside, she grabbed the zipper and made herself a cocoon.

"Adamine?" Freed wondered. "Oh! You're awake! Great! Join me for my morning routine."

"I am a pupa. Pupa's cannot do morning routines."

"Oh. Come on, Mina. Everyone else is still asleep. I want someone to workout with me."

Mina? Since when was she on a nickname basis with these guys? Inside her cocoon Adamine flushed. Only Black Pearl called her Mina. She gave her head a shake before she could get upset then mentioned, "I am a pupa right now. Wait until I become a beautiful butterfly and then I might consider joining you after I eat."

A snicker from the right had Adamine raising a brow. Bickslow was eavesdropping. She heard the zipper of another sleeping bag then Adamine noted daylight slipping into hers. "No! Stop! You'll kill me! I haven't finished becoming a butterfly!" Frantically, she tried to reach for the zipper, but someone had already jerked it open. When the dawn light crept against her skin, Adamine gave a dramatic gasp. She flailed about before finally falling limply against the sleeping bag. "I'm dead. You have killed me."

Strong arms yanked her up by the hand, and Laxus snickered, "You aren't dead, caterpillar girl."

"L-Laxus! You're awake. Are you going to partake in my morning routine?" Freed looked ecstatic at the prospect, and Adamine wondered. Did he have a crush on Laxus?

Adamine had heard of such mating customs in humans. They developed a fondness for each other called a crush. According to people she'd heard from, crushes came with clammy hands, butterflies in the stomach, and a lot of blushing. She checked Freed for those signs. His face was kind of pink… Diagnosis? Freed totally had a crush on Laxus.

Deciding she couldn't hide from them, Adam regained strength in her legs.

"Hard to sleep with that damned whistle going off every ten seconds. Why not." Laxus gave a long stretch, and Adam could hear every single bone in his back pop in a line.

With a scowl, Mina raised her own arms. She stretched them high up to the sky then gave a pause at the warm feeling in her heart.

She was… happy.

It'd been so long since she'd felt so good that she'd forgotten what the feeling was like. It was a warmth that started in her heart then bled out to her extremities. Her face flushed abruptly when she felt eyes on her, and she looked down at the hand rubbing her heart.

Plastering a quick grin on her face, Adamine blinked hard to get rid of tears that wanted to well up in her eyes. Adamine never cried. Never! Crying was for the weak. A dragon didn't have tear ducts. Firmalione had taught her to never cry in front of others, and she would not cry now.

So after giving a long stretch, Mina looked towards Freed and Laxus. "Ready when you are."

Freed's face lit up into that wonderful grin of his, and he hastily moved into position. When he set about blowing the whistle before each rep, Adamine heard a voice yawn, "Cut the rape whistle out, Freed." Bickslow.

As the two mages bickered, Adamine allowed her mind to wander back to that warm feeling in her chest. It was so odd… She couldn't remember the last time that she'd truly felt so at ease.

Oh, yes. There'd been times. Many times when she'd been calm and quick to smile but they had never made her heart pump butterflies into her chest. They had never flushed her face.

It had been so long since Adamine had withstood human interaction that she had forgotten the way people could make her feel. Black Pearl was different. She wasn't a human. She was a creature from another world. The title for her breed was a hellhound.

Adamine had found her and saved her from a potentially deadly situation. Ever since that day, they'd been travelling companions. Still, even with Black Pearl at her side, Adamine had never felt _this_ way.

These people made her feel alive. The longer she stayed with them, the less stress she felt on her back at being the runaway princess of Lancet. With them, she felt like a normal, common person. She didn't feel like she should parade about in golden crowns with gemstones that merely tempted her to eat them instead of wear them.

Her eyes scanned over the group. It was such a shame that she would have to leave them soon. Once she got the information she needed to get Pearl back, she would be back on her ultimate quest.

Adamine had heard of many rumors regarding a dragon named Igneel. If she could find Igneel, perhaps he could lead her to Firmalione. If she did find her mother while she was in Fiore, Adamine's quest wouldn't be over. She had to avenge the deaths of her parents. King and Queen Lancet would be avenged.

Even if Adamine hadn't been very old when her parents had been murdered, she knew that they had been loving. They had been misguided, believing that mages were people possessed by demons, but they had still been wonderful parents.

Adamine had this huge to-do list: avenge parents, find dragon mother, and resolve Mage/Norman conflict in Lancet. Her list only had three things, but those things were so huge that even at fifteen years old Adamine hadn't been able to do jack squat with either one. She would, though.

She would get strong, so strong that she could move tectonic plates. Firmalione had told her that being the dragon slayer of adamant meant you were one with the earth. With enough practice and determination, Adamine would be able to move the earth itself.

Only when she was that strong would she be able to conquer all the things on her to-do list.

Now, all Adamine had to do was rescue her closest companion.

A voice entered her thoughts from the far back of her subconscious, and Adamine vaguely heard someone calling her name. She was still in the middle of doing Freed's routine, but she was completely off pace.

Sweat rolled off her powerful form. She had even turned into adamant as she pumped her arms underneath her. Her biceps flexed beautifully as she did her fiftieth push up. It was only when someone pressed their hand to Adamine's back that she heard someone calling her name.

"Adamine," Evergreen wondered, "are you okay?"

Elbows locked into place, and Adamine regained her senses. When she looked down, she felt trails of sweat running down her gemstone skin. Her claws had distended and were digging into the earth. With a nervous laugh, Adamine flopped to her stomach.

She'd gotten so caught up in her thoughts that she'd completely zoned out.

Her breaths came fast but slowing as she caught them. After a while, she flipped over to nod her head. "A okay, Evergreen."

Evergreen, on the other hand, didn't look so believing. She cast Adamine a curious glance from behind the glare of her glasses.

To ensure that she was good, Adamine hopped up from the dirt. Running her forearm against the sweat of her brow, she mentioned, "Let's get going then. We gotta keep on keeping on. Eh?"

Concerned eyes glanced at her for a moment. Then, they rolled. "Sure. Come on, Stoner."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, guys. I'm stuck. I have nothing for what the next chapter should be about. There's so much excitement happening in Magical Massacre right now with the up and coming appearance of Zeref and the soon-to-happen war, that I've put the story on the back burner of my brain. If you have suggestions and ideas, drop them off in a PM or review. Hopefully, I can figure something out from that.<br>**

**Thank you all!**


	18. Dark Memories

**Okay! I got my head back into the right direction. I think! I'm writing so many different stories right now that my head's spinning and trying to keep track of them all is driving me bonkers. I hope you enjoy this chapter because it got me to remember where I'm going with for this story.**

* * *

><p>Dark Memories<p>

The scent of lightning had Adamine's nose lifting. She'd been waiting for this smell, and when Laxus's head turned in the direction of the scent, she knew she wasn't the only one that had smelt it.

"You can eat lightning?" Adamine wondered.

Instead of being able to answer, Bickslow cut in with, "Master Laxus is a regular Zeus when it comes to lightning."

"I wasn't asking you, Hades," she retorted, looking towards steel grey eyes instead of the slats in a visor. Still, she cracked a grin at Bickslow's comment. Tongue Boy was turning out to be not even half as bad as she had thought he would be.

Laxus explained, "Yeah. I can eat any lightning but my own. Why?"

"I have a plan," she mentioned. "I may not look it, but I'm a pretty good strategist."

"Oh?" Laxus teased.

"Oh, is right! Since this mission is a search and obtain, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some back up. You could lie in wait for anyone who tries to escape if things get bad, and I believe Evergreen's idea of having two women enter the guild would be a great idea." She turned to Freed. "I'll need you to lay out runes to lock anyone and everything inside, and Bickslow..."

"Yup?"

"I'm going to need you to guard our escape route. You're long distance like Laxus, but you don't have the same kind of range. Am I right?" The Seith Mage nodded at her question. "So, if we're being followed, you can take 'em out. Also, I've been around Seith Mages as a child. Can you use Human Possession?"

Bickslow's brows rose from behind his visor. She's said she'd been around Seith Mages before, but she knew his personal brand of Seith Magic. Did she feel the same kind of familiarity with him that he did to her? How long ago was it that they knew each other?

"Yeah. Why?"

Giving a bow of her caramel head, Adamine added, "Then, I'm giving you permission to use my body when you see fit during this mission."

Bickslow's grin got skeevy at that comment. He intoned, "During the whole mission? Anything I see fit?"

"Well, yeah. I've been possessed before. It's not that bad."

For some reason, Laxus face-palmed himself, Evergreen cast Bickslow a disappointed scowl, and Freed shook his head like he was disturbed.

"What? Did I miss something?" she asked innocently.

"Mina, dear, Bickslow wasn't talking about fighting with the use of your body. He was talking about-" Evergreen's pent up explanation was cut short. Her big, chocolaty eyes widened, and she gaped at something behind Adamine.

Slowly, the slayer turned. Her eyes were narrowed, body language cautious. When she caught sight of a den dug deep inside of a mountain's flat face, she didn't get what was the matter, but then her emerald orbs took in their surroundings.

Lightning crashed down over the cave but nowhere else. A veil of darkness encompassed the area, and skulls hung like sacrificial décor. At the gaudy obviousness of it all, Adamine mentioned, "I hear that sacrificial dungeon is in this season. All the dark guilds are doing it."

Rolling her big eyes, Adamine stepped bravely towards the den. Her hips sashayed back and forth, catching the eyes of Bickslow and Laxus. Those leather shorts clung to every inch of skin. With the way her body was rolling side to side, there was no way she couldn't infiltrate that guild's hiding place.

Evergreen shook herself out of her trance. Adamine was either brave or stupid. Likely both. Hastily, the only other women caught up to Mina.

The two looked like femme fatales. Ever had her hand on her left hip. Adamine had her chin raised in an arrogant display. When the two came to an oversized metal door with silver dipped skulls lining the exterior, Adamine's leg hiked up. In one powerful Sparta Kick, the hinges snapped audibly. What should have been a two hundred pound door fell like a two inch domino.

Adamine chimed, "Good evening, boys" before slipping into the darkness of the den.

Bickslow blinked. Had that just happened? Adamine was almost, if not just as, scary as Mirajane _and_ Erza. By the looks on Laxus's and Freed's expressions, they agreed with him. The fact that Evergreen had a frighteningly powerful dragon slayer as her best girlfriend was probably the most horrific revelation Bickslow had in the past few days.

When something bumped against Bickslow's foot, he glanced downwards to see a diamond shimmering at his feet. It was cut emerald style, and when he picked it up, he jumped at the sound of Adamine's voice. "Yo! Team Gemstone to Thunder God Tribe. Team Gemstone to Thunder God Tribe?"

The group blinked then glanced at the diamond in Bickslow's grasp. Mina's voice was coming out of… that? How? Did she have some kind of telepathic magic?

Freed answered before anyone else. "Adamine? Evergreen? Is that you?"

"I told you Freed would be the first one to realize," Evergreen's voice came through the stone.

"Dang. Fine. Fine. I owe you. I get it. You won the bet." Through the diamond, Bickslow and the group realized they could see Adamine sticking her tongue out at Ever.

"What's going on? How come you can talk to us like this?" Laxus wondered, breaking the playfulness between the two women.

Adamine's eyes settled on the diamond. "Huh? Oh, I have control of gemstones, and since diamonds have a high luster, I can use them as cameras. Only recently did I figure out I could project my voice through as well. Pretty nifty. Eh?"

"Definitely," Freed mentioned.

The guys looked impressed. Laxus did as well. He muttered, "She would be perfect for making Fairy Tail the strongest." That was definite. The Raijinshuu didn't know of anyone other than Mirajane and Gildarts who could hold a candle to Laxus. The fact that he and Mina had tied was proof enough.

"Bickslow," Adamine began, "I need you to search for an alternate back entryway. Freed, I need you to begin setting up runes, and Laxus, I need you to gather up enough lightning in case we have to shut this guild down for good."

The Raijinshuu nodded, but Laxus just stated, "Yeah, whatever." Still, that comment did nothing to hide the slight smirk crawling up his face.

"Alright, I'm turning sound off, so you'll have to direct us to the exit through visualization," she finished.

* * *

><p>Evergreen glanced to her new comrade. Adamine was nothing if not nifty. The woman was already showing off strategic skills, and she was a font of power. The fact that she could project herself in ways similar to Master Laxus forced Ever to acknowledge the similarities in their strength, but in her eyes, Laxus would always be number one. Adamine was just a strong two, points deduced for social anxiety.<p>

Despite said anxiety, the woman was strolling into this dark guild like she owned the place. Her chin was raised, and she had run her thumbs into the belt loops on her leather shorts. Her combats boots tapped hard on the floor, not even trying to be quiet.

When the guards had met them at the door, Adamine had let the heavy metal tumble down on them. Then, she'd tied them up after asking where the back door was. With shivering voices, they had explained it, and she'd relayed the directions to Bickslow.

Yeah, this woman didn't play.

Evergreen glanced towards her gemstone comrade. Mina's hands skimmed over the stone in the cave, and she was keeping an attentive eye out for anyone who might come across them.

So far, all they were seeing was stone walls in a cramped hallway. The place was crudely carved. Jagged stone stuck out in random areas, and it was rough to the touch. The only sounds coming through the hallway were of Evergreen and Mina's footsteps then the occasional dripping of water from a stalactite or two.

"It's quiet," Adamine mentioned. Her nose was lifted into the air, taking the scents in like a dog.

"Yeah, I would have expected someone to come out by now. We aren't exactly quiet," Evergreen noted. Her eyes were scanning the dark space. It kind of gave her the creeps.

Drip. Drip. Drop. The moisture kissed the stone. Tip Tip Tap. Their shoes hit the floor. The air was cold and wet. It had to have been frizzing up Evergreen's hair. Fairies weren't supposed to be in creepy places like this.

Fairies were dainty and beautiful. They didn't belong in dark, cramped quarters!

A hand shot out in the darkness, and Evergreen barely suppressed an abrupt squeak. When Adamine plastered the two of them against the cave wall, the woman turned to press her finger to her lips.

Jerking her chin, Adamine motioned for Ever's caramel eyes to look out the mouth of the hall. Adam whispered, "I figured out why no one's looking for us."

Even though her eyebrows came together in confusion, Evergreen leaned her upper torso forward. Candle light bloomed to give her vision, and what she saw made her knees go weak.

A cloaked man stood at the head of an altar. In one hand was a book. In the other hand was a dagger. The skeletal appendage reached out over something large and covered on the altar. All around there were candles. They were strategically placed in a circular formation. Lines made in what Ever hoped was red chalk created intricate patterns within the circle.

All around, cloaked people surrounded the outer walls of this cave. They stood with their hands joined. A strange incantation slipped from their mouth. What the hell kind of people were these and how was this not an S class mission?

The cloth slipped from the altar, and Evergreen held her breath. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as inch by inch the white cloth was removed. Adamine even tensed up beside her.

Her emerald eyes watched when what she expected was revealed from beneath the cloth. The face of a young girl appeared first. Her eyes were open, a gag in her mouth. Adamine's heart went still in her chest when a candle revealed a marking on the woman's eye.

Oh, Firmalione. Oh, no. It couldn't be. Seven girls. Seven altars. One group of psychotic occultists hell bent on summoning the dragon goddess Firmalione. Adamine sucked air at the sight of the tattoo across the woman's eye. That was _it_. It was the Mark of Firmalione, the tattoo that Adamine had been given the night she'd been kidnapped.

Her body locked up instantly. Hands dug deep rivets into the stone, and suddenly, the air got too thick to breathe. This was it. She was reliving her most ultimate nightmare. Flashes of the past bubbled up in her mind, and even though she tried to hold them back, they pushed through the walls she'd set up in her head.

* * *

><p><em>She shivered. With her hands tied behind her back and her mouth gagged, it was the only thing she could do.<em>

_Her mind was a frantic haze of thoughts. How had she gotten here? Where was Momma? Where was Da? Her skull brewed with all kinds of questions, but she couldn't have a single one of them answered._

_One second she had been safe and comfortable. Her five year old body had been sweetly wrapped up amongst all kinds of adorable stuffed animals and a princess bed equipped with a gentle canopy. Adamine Lancet had been warm, safe from any dangers that lurked in the night._

_The next second, she'd been torn from her soft life. Cold hands had shred her away from her mother's arms, and her father's anguished roar had echoed throughout the castle._

_She didn't know where she was. She didn't know who she was with._

_Her tiny arms trembled, and with a harsh yank she was hauled up from the ground. The bag over her head was wrenched away. As soon as it was, Adamine wished that it could be put back._

_Six girls laid upon six altars. They were all close to Adamine's age, and she could hear their cries to be freed. Big, green eyes were forcibly turned to a lone altar directly in front of her. For some reason, she knew it was hers to lay upon. For some reason Adamine Terra knew that her status as princess no longer matter, and the big, bag Boogie Man was about to reach out from under the stone to snatch her up._

_It was in that moment that Adamine's brain shut down, and her eyes fogged over. It was in that moment that the Princess of Lancet died._

* * *

><p>Adamine's body fell to the ground, and she dug her stone nails into the floor. Oh, Firmalione, she couldn't breathe. Her gut was doing summersaults, and her mind was ready to shut down. A hand pressed tightly to her mouth, and she tried to hold in her breakfast. Saliva brimmed up at the surface like a dog with rabies.<p>

Great Dragon Goddess Firmalione, they were going to do to that girl what was done to her, and Adamine's body was shutting down on her like never before.

She felt hands on her body. Those hands clutched her tight.

Barely cognitive thoughts spewed from between Adam's lips.

"So much blood… they all died… never be brought back… my fault…"

"Adamine," someone hissed from somewhere in the back of Adam's mind. "Adamine, come on. We have to get out of here."

Something was lifting Adamine up from the ground, but she wouldn't go. No! She would not go back there! She would never go back there.

Her body turned to stone, and she jerked out of what was holding her. Claws shred through the air, flying blindly. When they hit nothing but air, Adamine didn't wait to see what was trying to take her. Instead, she got the hell out of there.

With both hands clamped over her mouth, Adam rushed as fast as she could towards the closest exit.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaand, this is the part where if any of you have read Tablet and a Tome say, "Ah ha!" See! There is a connection point in my Adamine Terra Series. You just had to wait for it. :)<strong>

**Alrighty, guys. I have to say thank you for reading, following, and favoriting. You're all wonderful, and it pleases me so much to see that people are enjoying my work.**

**Leave me a review on what you think! I know that I will require some extra guidance for these upcoming chapters as we delve into the climax of the plot.**

**Ta, ta for now!**


	19. Dragon Princess

**Not going to lie, y'all, I'm not impressed with this chapter. I wish there was more to it, but my head doesn't want to work with the story right now. I hope I can get my head back in the right place, but with Magical Massacre coming to a close and the start of my Mages of Lancet series starting up, I have my interests divided.**

* * *

><p>Dragon Princess<p>

Evergreen's eyes flashed open as she narrowly dodged Adamine's talons. The shimmering gemstone was ready to hack her head off had she not jumped out of the way. What the hell was going on with her? She looked ill, pale even behind her gemstone body.

Hastily, Evergreen chased after her confusing princess, but as soon as her heels made a tap on the floor, the room behind them went silent.

"Her," one of the cloaked men gasped.

Evergreen didn't even take the time to figure out just which _her_ they were talking about. Instead, she high tailed it after Mina.

The woman was running blind. In this darkness there was no way Adamine could find her bearings. Still, she wasn't running into any of the jagged spikes on the wall. Adamine's hands were balled up into fists, fists so tight that they were leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

Ever was so confused. Did Adamine know what they were about to do to that girl? Did she know who those men were? She'd said she'd gotten kidnapped. Was that the same occult that had taken her? Ah! There were a thousand questions running through Ever's mind, but she couldn't focus on a single one.

A riot of footsteps caught Ever's attention, and she sucked up air like a vacuum. The psychos that had been in the chamber were coming after them. "Adamine, wait!" Evergreen called. It didn't matter if she was quiet now. The men and women were coming after them. If she could get Adam's head back in the right place, they might be able to fight their way out of here.

Mina didn't wait. As a matter of fact, she took one look at the people following them and her eyes went glassy. Oh, no. Evergreen was about to completely lose her, and she didn't know why.

Evergreen's eyes went to the gemstone Adamine had given her to communicate with the guys in case of an emergency. Well, this seemed like an emergency. She lifted the crystal upwards in the same manner as Adamine had. Then, she cried, "Laxus!"

A sudden shrill cry had Laxus jumping out of his own skin. That had sounded like Evergreen! His steel grey eyes jerked downwards where he caught sight of Evergreen running. "What? What is it? Do we need to come in there?"

"YES! Adamine ran off and now there's a huge group of psychos chasing us. Whatever these people are, they aren't a dark guild. I don't know what the hell they are. Just get us out of here!" Evergreen's brown eyes widened at something Laxus couldn't see. One second she was in front of the communication crystal. The next second all Laxus hear was a high pitched squeal. It was followed by some kind of demonic roar.

Hastily, he jerked his eyes over to the man who'd just finished sealing off the area. "Freed, let us go through. Something happened to the girls," he barked. Like the proud leader he was, Laxus was already charging in to the battle.

His body was fully stocked with lightning. He'd been an attractant for the bolts, and now he was ready to beat the shit out of anything that dared to get in his way.

As soon as Freed made an exception to the runes, the two men went straight in. Laxus's brawny arms pumped into the air with each charge, and as soon as they entered the cavern, Freed put on the brakes. The green haired mage's hand shot out to snag Laxus by the bicep. Before he could ask what Freed thought he was doing, a wall of flame erupted from where he'd just been stepping.

"Card Magic," Freed explained. His finger pointed to a Tarot Card lying on the ground. "Someone knew we were coming. We'll have to go around and catch up to Bickslow if he hasn't gotten in by now."

* * *

><p>When Evergreen's scream had spewed from the diamond in Bickslow's hand, the man just started running. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't know what his destination would hold. All he knew was that Ever and Mina were in trouble. Damn it! He knew he shouldn't have let them go in by themselves.<p>

Hastily, he dashed in through a secret escaped tunnel he'd found while perusing the back of the cavern. As soon as he touched foot in the tunnel, he called, "Babies, take out all the traps!" The totems that drifted around him immediately charged to what had caused the hair on Bickslow's neck to rise.

After living long enough with Freed Justine, a guy got to know traps, and this place was riddled in them. Tarot Cards lined the cavern. They were hidden behind stalagmites. There were some on the ceiling. Bickslow even caught sight of a few tucked inside of animal skulls.

Once all the traps were cleared, Bickslow popped out from behind another heavy, metal door. As soon as he did, he launched straight into a girl with pink pigtails. "No!" the girl screamed. "No! No! Let me go! Let me go!"

She was wearing a tattered gown so white it was sheer. Bickslow's eyes got a view of everything when the girl scampered backwards. The hand he had on her wrist forced him to tumble over the top of her. As soon as he was shoved in her direction, his head shot backwards. She popped him right in the mouth.

Still writhing, she frantically tried to free herself. She got her wrist out of his grip then flipped over. Oh, no. She was not getting away from him. She was his only ticket to finding Mina and Ever. Shooting a hand out, Bickslow drug her back by her ankle.

"Where are my friends?" he shouted over the sound of her screaming. She fought. She wriggled. She writhed. Any other time, Bickslow might have enjoyed the transaction. Right now, it just pissed him off.

He shoved his visor from his eyes then let them glow their feverish emerald. With a single look, the pink haired female turned scarlet under his control. She limply laid herself underneath him and gazed with an entranced expression, a puppet awaiting a command.

"Where are my friends?" he asked, rolling through his hold to get her lips to answer truthfully.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Who are you then?"

"Ignatia Mae, a foreigner. I was sent to retrieve the princess."

Princess? Retrieve? Was this girl talking about the runaway princess of Lancet who disappeared at age five, came back to life at age thirteen, then disappeared off the face of the earth at age fifteen? Erianna Lancet was famous worldwide for her disappearing acts, but people couldn't still believe she was alive. Not with the way Lancet's navy kills unregistered ships.

Bickslow quickly got his mind out of the gutter. He had to save Adamine and Evergreen. This girl was the way to finding them. He asked, "Have you seen two girls, two brunettes? One wears glasses. The other has diamond skin."

"The princess was here. I saw her. They all saw her."

"Where did she go?"

"I told her to run. She did. I tried to help her, but she ran too fast. Need to save the princess."

Was she talking about Adamine being the princess of Lancet? No. There had to be some kind of mistake. Adamine Terra was just a foreignor like Evergreen and Bickslow. With her seriously lacking amount of propriety, Adamine couldn't be Erianna Lancet.

He barked out, "Take me to her."

"Want my clothes," the girl responded even though she rose to Bickslow's command.

"I'll get you some clothes as soon as I find my girls. Just take me to them first."

"I've got to save the Dragon Princess," the girl muttered with a zombie's voice. She took a step forward per Bickslow's orders.

This girl might have been off her rocker, but she was a commodity now. Not only did she know something about where Ever and Mina were, but she might know something about Adamine's past, the very past the girl refused to talk about to them.

Following behind the girl, Bickslow took a second to glare behind him. He growled, "Laxus, Freed, you guys have got to hurry up."

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><p><strong>Woohoo! I got to introduce Iggy in this chapter. Whoop! Whoop! I can't wait to show her off to y'all. Ignatia is fabulous, and, surprisingly, no, she doesn't use Fire Magic. Read on my wayward sons and enjoy Book One of my Mages of Lancet Series.<strong>

**Also, call me a dork, but I am goofy with happiness at how many followers I have to this story. Perhaps, ten followers seems little to some of you big shots, but hey, I take what I can get. THANK YOU ALL!**

**Please, review. I need encouragement to continue with Hunt and be Hunted right now.**


	20. Wonderland

**To those of you who may have believed that I was going to stop this story, I AM SO SORRY (Kirorokat). That wasn't what I meant at all. I was just meaning to say that I was wondering about putting this little guy on the backburner. You know. Think hiatus like what Fall Out Boy did.**

**Sorry for any confusion. I will try my hardest not to make any long pause.**

**On another note, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I was surprised my brain would allow me to write it out since I was stuck on it. My problem is not that I don't know where I'm going with the story. I know where I'm going. I just don't know how to get there with the plot and details.**

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><p>Wonderland<p>

"The demi-goddess," a man breathed as he looked in on Adamine and Evergreen. They were behind bars. Somewhere between trying to catch up to Adamine and playing Human Keep Away with the crazies chasing them, Evergreen had wound up getting herself caught. Promptly, Adamine had gone berserk at the sight of Evergreen being hauled from the floor by loons. At least even when barely sane, the girl still tried to look out for Ever.

Adamine was laid out in Evergreen's lap. After these loons had stuck a needle of something inside of Adamine's neck, she had fallen limp. The adamantine dragon slayer had dropped to her knees only to be scooped and carried princess style into an underground cell.

Now, Evergreen sat with her eyes narrowed as she watched the people watching them. They uttered odd things.

"Our sacrifices worked."

"The goddess will surely come now."

"We can become gods once she liberates us back to the Promised Land."

Every mention of the word goddess had Adamine groaning in pain. Her caramel brows were drawn tightly, and cold sweat beaded across her pale forehead. Even in Adamine's slumber, she dug her nails into the stone floor.

Damn. Where the hell were the guys? They had to have started on their way by now. Any traps could be relayed out by Freed. The man could smell a trap a mile away. Bickslow was the same. Laxus could smell them in this dank cell surely. There was no possibly way that Laxus could have gotten apprehended, and Bickslow… Well, they would probably let him loose after he started to get on their nerves.

A particular groan passed through Adamine's lips. Something was paining her. It had paled her skin and caused her back to arch sharply in Ever's lap. Quickly, the mage ran her fingers through the princess's hair.

Evergreen soothed, "Shh. Mina, it'll be okay. Shh. Shh." Despite her relaxing words, Evergreen was far from calm.

Cold sweat had made her hands clammy, and she watched the strange, cloaked people as they stepped around in the darkness. There was something so peculiar about this place.

One detail was the fact that the tattoo on Adamine's face, a tattoo currently cloaked by a glamour, was also on the faces of the men and women in this dungeon. When someone pressed his or her face up to get a look at the monkeys in the cage, Evergreen witnessed the dragon tattoo that had been forcefully placed across Adamine's eye.

These people truly believed that Adamine was some kind of savior, some kind of demi-goddess. Adamine had said that she'd been kidnapped. Where these the kinds of people that had stolen her from Castle Lance?

"Black Pearl," Adamine whimpered. Her hands reached to the camo bandana in her hair. With a child's sincerity, she pulled the bandana out to clutch it close to her heart.

It was with that simple act that Evergreen made a promise to herself. Evergreen promised, "I will make sure that I'm the best fairy god-sister you've ever had, Mina." Her hands ran through the many spikes and waves that made up Adamine Terra's caramel hair. Evergreen was going to protect the princess of Lancet, but she wouldn't do it as a duty to her kingdom. She would do it as her job as a Fairy Tail God-Sister.

* * *

><p>Laxus's lightning pumped hot through another idiot's skeleton, and he lifted his nose to the ceiling. "They're not down here either," he barked. For some reason, Adamine's scent was all over this underground dungeon. He could smell her on every inch of this place, and it just didn't make any sense to him.<p>

They had found Adamine in Akane, outside of the resort. Oshibana was north. Akane was south. The Hargeon port was more south than the beach. If Adamine had gotten here by ship, she wouldn't have had time to get to Oshibana. Hargeon was one of the bigger ports in Fiore. If she'd come by ship, she should have entered through there. She shouldn't have had time to go dungeon diving in Oshibana. If Adamine was from Lancet, and he swore that she was, she would have come in from Hargeon.

His hands fisted on either side of his skull at the confusion in his senses. He smelt Adamine here. He smelt her at the back exit Laxus and Freed had snuck through. She was everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

Steel eyes glanced over to Freed. The man was in his Darkness form. It was a large demonic beast with a dark furred upper torso. Two long, curved horns jutted from either side of a grey face. It was the same state that Laxus had once found the Rune Mage in years back, and still, it raised Laxus's brows that such a polite male could turn into such a ferocious beast.

After Freed tossed several men off to the side, he shifted back. The runes that had been placed upon his skin faded away as the spell lifted.

"Anything?" he wondered.

"Nothing. It's pissing me off."

Laxus's fist flew out to connect with a stalagmite. The structure burst into pieces at the blow, but it didn't faze Freed one bit. He was accustomed to Laxus's outbursts. Instead of commenting on that, Freed encouraged, "Perhaps, Bickslow is having better luck. You know he could just possess someone and get them to walk him to the girls."

A slow nod from the blonde slayer. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure he will, but Freed doesn't part of this feel like a set up to you?" Laxus admitted, letting his suspicions flow into the air between them.

Freed raised a single green brow as they continued on their dragon slayer quest. "It does seem strange that Adam's scent is all over the place. You don't think that she led us out here. Do you?"

Laxus straightened his back. His grey eyes were speculative, pondering. This was the wisdom that Laxus rarely ever showed in the presence of the guild. It was something Freed had gradually attributed to Makarov Dreyar. Both of them were wise in their processes, true leaders at heart.

"I don't know," he spat out in obvious confusion. "It doesn't make sense that this place smells like her. Given the circumstances that we found her in, I don't know what help it would be for her to gather us all here. Still, something's screwed up here, and I've got to figure it out."

Freed inclined his head. Those had been the same things he was speculating as well. Adamine seemed like a kind enough girl, but that didn't matter. Perhaps, gathering everyone in this dungeon was her means of getting that friend named Pearl back. That would be the most obvious gain she could receive, but… Who put the mission up on the board in the first place? Adamine couldn't have because she was with them the whole time. If she had a partner…

* * *

><p>Bickslow eyed his victim quietly. Ignatia had fallen under the spell of his eye magic easily. Too easily even for someone who hadn't known his abilities. As he held onto her soul, he realized she wasn't fighting him.<p>

Just like with Adamine, this girl had a kind of familiarity to her. Bickslow knew her. Flashbacks came to his head. He saw a young girl with curling pink hair. She was lost. She was alone. With nothing other than a locket with her family's picture in it, she walked the streets of a town with no name.

Guards had followed her closely. They suspected her of magical abilities, but the guards of the town weren't the only ones watching her. A young version of Adamine was crouched beside Bickslow in the flashback.

The Adamine in his mind turned her face towards him. "Are you ready? The guards are going to try to get her in five, four, three…" Adamine's young voice faded off in Bickslow's mind.

His attention was dragged in front of him by the sight of cloaked men. They stood guard with spears in front of their bodies. That had to be it. That had to be where Adamine and Evergreen were locked up.

Using Ignatia as bait, Bickslow commanded her body to keep walking. She walked with the rigidity of stone. Her robotic movements seemed disoriented and confused, just the way Bickslow assumed she should walk if she'd gotten away. As soon as he turned her head towards the guards, they locked eyes.

Immediately, Bickslow demanded for the girl to run away, and as soon as the guards charged in the direction that Ignatia had fled, Bix slipped through another one of the hundreds of metal doors.

The first sight he was greeted with was an entourage of people. They stood in a circle with an altar in the center. There were excited murmurs coming from the people swathed in dark cloth.

"With her sacrifice, Firmalione will awaken!"

"She will save us all."

"Mages will take over Lancet."

"Our prayers are coming to fruition!"

Slyly, Bickslow slipped into the shadows. His totems were ominously quiet, relaying his tense emotions by their silence. Crimson eyes scanned the area. With the amount of freaks in the place, Bickslow could hardly get a lock on anyone. Their thick coverings made it hard to see through the cloth.

Still, he narrowed his eyes. A light flare of emerald glistened in his eyes, and he noticed the souls of the people in the room. There were myriads of colors, meaning that these people were all mages. He could see dark rivets of pain in the people. Trauma was obvious in their souls, but he couldn't dwell on such things.

His eyes were looking for a strange soul, a soul that was like someone with multiple personality disorder. He was looking for Adamine and her two souls riddled with scars. His eyes sought out the most damaged soul in the room, and after finding it with one of shimmering gold, he let his magic relax.

Adamine and Evergreen were sitting in a cage. Adamine was unconscious and strapped to the wall by leather bands. Her head hung loosely to the side, and her eyes were barely open. Only the whites could be seen.

Evergreen was standing at the cage. Her eyes were fiery, but her magic hadn't stoned anyone. Magically reinforced? Most likely.

The slamming of a door echoed through the room, and a man proclaimed, "I found the pixie!"

Pixie?

"Let me go! Let me go!" the girl screamed, and once her eyes caught sight of drugged Adamine strapped to the wall, her mouth unhinged. The cries changed. "Let her go! Let Mina go!"

Pink hair flew when the girl yanked her arm downwards. As soon as she was freed, she proclaimed, "Wonderland!" Her arms shot out to either side of her, and suddenly, they weren't in a cave dungeon. They were in a forest.

Everyone's body shrunk down. Giant mushrooms grew overhead. Trees reached up to a sky that felt to be light years away. One second they were in a sacrificial chamber. The next second the pink haired mage had sent them to quite literally Wonderland.

Bickslow's eyes glanced down towards himself, and his yelped at the sight of his changed appearance. No longer was Bickslow a tall, broad shouldered male wearing knight's clothing. He had changed to a Cheshire cat straight from Alice in Wonderland. His arms were furred in grey and purple, and a long tail flicked behind him while he crouched on all fours. Even his totems had changed. No longer were they tiki heads. They were currently four butterflies with books for wings.

Everyone was different. Adamine was no longer strapped to stone. Her body was more animated and girly. The leather bands had turned to vines, and she was being sucked into a tree.

Evergreen sat at the base of the tree. She was no longer herself though. Much like Bickslow her appearance had changed. She was dressed like some kind of fairy princess. Wings even sprouted from her back. The cage that she had been inside of was currently the base of the tree devouring Adamine. Thick roots held Ever in like a cage.

All of the cloaked men and women? Well, they were ugly trolls. A look that suited them.

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><p><strong>Guys, comments help me with writer's block. They're imagination fodder. Tell me what you would like to see and know about.<strong>

**Also, I have a question does Ignatia's magic remind anyone of any mage in Fairy Tail? Eh? Eh?**


	21. Confusion

**Aaaaaaaaaaand, I'm back from Christmas vacation. I swear, guys, twelve hour drives suuuuuck. Don't do them if you don't have to. They are the devil in disguise.**

**In other news, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not very proud of it, but that seems to be a reoccurring issue with this story. Perhaps, once I get the story finished I'll fine tune it some more. I'm not sure. It's like I know where I'm going. I just don't know how to get there. This story has so much going on.**

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><p>Confusion<p>

Sudden memories had Adamine unsure of her surroundings. She felt her head roll upwards, and she lifted heavy eyelids. _Lancet Dragon Priests,_ that occult ran through Adam's mind, and she sucked air.

That was one of the many groups that were after her, and out of all of them, Adamine would rather be taken by Exile.

The Lancet Dragon Priests were dragon worshippers of her mother dragon Firmalione. They hunted her in order to seek the dragon goddess. Also, it was the occult that Zeref led. It had been that man's decision to hunt down and sacrifice Adamine.

Her dry mouth gulped down saliva that wasn't there, and Adamine could feel every inch of her throat crack hard in her body. Flashing open her eyes, Adamine couldn't even muster up cognitive thought.

The entire scenery had changed. The dungeon had turned into some kind of storybook wonderland, and the stone wall was now a large tree. Even the texture changed. What kind of hallucination could change textures of objects?

Forcing herself not to shut back down, Adamine ignored one of her greatest fears. There were only three things that could make Adamine shut down in horror: the occult leader Zeref, open ocean, and large crowds. Now, Adamine was facing the greatest of the three, and she bit down on her bottom lip until blood welled.

This was what she hunted for. She couldn't permit it to get to her. Zeref was the man she had sought all these years since Firmalione had begun to raise her. Adamine had gotten stronger, more powerful, in order to destroy him. To kill him! She couldn't kill him if the mere reminders of him sent her into a state of shock.

Adamine whipped her head upwards and bared her fangs, but as soon as she attempted to fire up her gemstone body, nothing happened. She tried again. The diamond hard backing on her skin cells attempted to flip over but nothing. She couldn't do anything. Cursing, Adamine loosed a sharp, "Uragh!" She flailed against her body, but she couldn't do jack squat.

"Mina!" A voice cried from amongst the oversized mushrooms and tree trunks. Massive blades of grass that appeared to reach five stories high parted, and a small pixie fluttered out with a pair of wings that matched her bright pink hair.

With just the sight of that girl, memories flooded Adamine's head. She was teleported to the past.

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><p>"Go!" a young Adamine barked. Her body lunged out from darkness, and she charged to a pink haired little girl. The boy… a very familiar boy… blinked at her sudden command. After a prolonged second, he finally shot out behind her.<p>

"No! Get the girl! Damn it! Get the girl!" one of the guards in the town hollered. Men sporting lances, crossbows, and swords all directed their attention to the armored lieutenant. As soon as the command registered in their pint sized minds, they jerked their eyes to a pink haired girl standing bewildered in the dirty streets.

In her hands was a tiny locket. She held onto it as if for dear life, and as soon as the guards came rushing in, Adamine and her blue haired comrade snatched her right up from the ground. The seven year old squirmed and screamed, but Adamine's hold was strong. She yelped, "Shut up and follow us! We're professionals!"

The blue haired boy caught up to the two running girls. His long tongue stuck out, and he snickered, "Yeah, we're professionals!"

As the bewildered girl stared on in shock, the blue haired boy turned around to run backwards. To a set of tiki dolls the girl just noticed hovering in the air, Bickslow called, "Babies, gimme a Triblast Formation!"

The three dolls formed a triangle in the air. Sure enough, a magic circle surged between, and to Adamine's utter delight, she watched guards frantically scatter out of the way of a massive blast of green magic. The pink haired girl's two saviors cackled wickedly before leaping through a window where two purple haired girls were waving them inside.

"W-who are you?" the girl stammered to Adamine and her blue haired friend.

Adamine and the male gave two befanged smiles. In unison they proclaimed, "We're Kindred Spirit's number one team! Dragon Soul!"

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><p>The memory faded away as soon as Adamine felt hands on her body. Hastily, vines were being shred away from her arms and legs and torso. Adamine watched in partially stunned awe until she caught sight of trolls with bulbous noses approaching with ferocity.<p>

The pixie gave an adorable hiss in the direction of Adamine's line of sight then turned back to the woman on the tree. "I'll save you, Mina. I swear on the name of Kindred Spirit that I will save you!" She released Adamine then turned towards their oncoming attackers. "Pixie Dust!" she cried out.

Her arms spread in the air like when Evergreen did her move Leprechaun, and the air filled with hundreds of glittering lights. The move was identical in style as Adamine watched trolls leap out of the way of oncoming fire. As soon as they were hindered, a purple and grey cat leaped from behind a tree stump. Sitting up on his haunches, the cat meowed something that sounded like "Baryon Formation", but the words were so mottled with meowing that Mina couldn't understand.

She did understand when a massive blast of emerald energy surged her way that she had to get out of its way. Snatching the pixie up, Adamine turned her body adamantine. She cried, "Twin Shields of Lione!" Her diamond hard skin expanded and flattened into two halves of the same curved shield, and when the cat's blast of magic slammed Adamine's arms, she braced her legs against it.

Adamine's feet dug hard into the ground, but when the blast subsided all she could hear was the pixie's awed whisper of "Team Dragon Soul". Not bothering with how those words and Adamine's rush of memory matched up, she turned to the sound of bitching.

Evergreen's fists were bashing against thick vines. She shouted, "You idiots! Bickslow, you overgrown dumb ass, you almost fried me with that move, and Adamine, you stupid dragon lady, you didn't even try to help me out! I'm freaking vulnerable here! Somebody get me out of this thing!"

The pixie jerked out of Adamine's arms and snapped, "Don't you dare insult Team Dragon Soul! With that horrible mouth of yours, I would say that you deserve to stay in there! No one insults my Adamine Terra or my Bickslow and gets away with it!"

That grey and purple cat leaped through the mass of toasted bodies of unconscious occultists then meowed, "Eiyahaha! You heard the girl, Evergreen. Sounds like you ain't going nowhere."

Evergreen narrowed her eyes at the cat. Her face went to awed, then surprised, then confused, and then raging. All in a matter of ten seconds. "Bickslow, you stupid cat, get me out of here!"

The pink haired girl shrieked, "I told you not to insult my Bickslow, librarian lady!"

"Librarian lady? Oh, you stupid brat! Get over here. I'll rip those pink pig tails right out of your head!"

"Not before I smash your glasses against that stupid head of yours!"

The two girls went back and forth before the Bickslow Cat meowed, "They're so similar. I think Evergreen just made a new friend. Don't you, Adamine?"

Adamine glanced down to the cat with the strange book winged butterflies hovering around him. She bent down and scooped the feline up. Adamine's emerald orbs stared into the cat's eyes. Bickslow Cat's crimson eyes stared into Adam's eyes. After a moment of staring, Adamine cried, "What the hell is going on here?"

Bickslow meowed, "Hell if I know. The Pink Pixie yelled Wonderland, and now we're teleported into some kind of acid trip festival."

Evergreen and said Pink Pixie whirled away from their back and forth fighting. The pixie flew right up to Adamine and wrapped her arms around the woman. "Oh, Mina! Mina, Mina, Mina! I can't believe that I finally found you!" she whimpered.

Bickslow Cat was smooshed up tight against Adamine's plentiful chest, and by the purring vibrating against her skin, Adamine assumed he wasn't complaining. She didn't even think to pay attention to it. The pixie was strangling her in a love hold of doom. Against the stranglehold, Adam wheezed, "Do I even know you?"

Suddenly, the girl flung backwards. "Know me? Adamine Terra, how in the world could you not know me? I am your best friend! Your Pixie Sister! There is no woman in the world more beautiful or loyal to you than me! I am Ignatia Mae Talisma! You gave me the name Iggy Mae when you found me in the streets of Wolfrun. I've been a member of Kindred Spirit since."

Adamine's head was whirling. Kindred Spirit? Wolfrun? Iggy Mae? Was this a part of that dark hole in Adamine's mind that Black Pearl had always warned her to never venture into? She'd lost her memories, but she didn't even know how much.

"I-I don't remember," Adamine admitted.

On his curled up spot against her breasts, Bickslow Cat mentioned, "Adamine's got amnesia. We all do. If you're from Lancet, you should too."

The pixie fluttered about in the air. "Yup. I should, but I don't. That's because I took an S-class mission off the request board of Kindred Spirit," Iggy chimed, all too pleased with herself. "It's my mission to find you, Mina, and I found you. Now my masters can't tell me I'm not strong or old enough to be taking S-class missions. All you have to do is come back home with me!"

"H-home? To Lancet?" A deep bone-chilling fear sunk down inside of Adamine. She couldn't go home. There were too many guards there. The Lancet Dragon Priests were thick there. Adamine's fiancé Gatlin would find her and force her to marry him. One group wanted to sacrifice her in order to summon a dragon. The other group wanted her, so he could take over a kingdom using a title Adamine had thrown off long, long ago.

From her trapped position Evergreen protested, "Oh, no! Adamine isn't going anywhere near Lancet. Never again! You can just take your happy, floating self on back to Lancet before you get hurt or sacrificed."

The pixie whipped her head in Evergreen's direction. Before she could go flying off to rail at the woman, Bickslow Cat's extended his new claws. He snatched the girl up. "Oh, no! You aren't doing anything until you reverse this spell."

The pixie huffed, "Doesn't look like it's such a problem to you, Bickslow. Besides, you and Mina are married anyway. My masters told me so. You just sit there with Mina, and I'll give that librarian a what for!" She tried to fly off, but Bickslow Cat leaped from Adamine's arms. He pounced flat on the girl.

With his feline teeth baring at her, he hissed, "Reverse it now, little girl!"

"F-F-Fine! But, I'm not doing it because you're scary or anything. I'm doing it because you're Mina's husband." She tried to look tough, but judging by the quivering of her chin, she was scared of the big Bickslow Cat. "Wake Up," she grumbled out.

True to her magic, the illusion fluttered away in a blast of golden pixie dust Evergreen should have been proud of. The cat that had been snarling down over the top of a tiny pixie was now Bickslow glowering down at a little girl. Evergreen's fairy wings receded in gold, but she was now trapped inside of a cage rather than a tree.

Bickslow was going to leap off the little girl, but when he looked back down, she was gone. He blinked at the spot that she had been.

When a voice came from the side of Adamine's head, all eyes turned to the bewinged pink haired girl sitting on Adamine's shoulder. "You're no fun, Bixie! You used to be fun, but now that you left the guild, you're no fun at all," she pouted.

"I don't even know you!" he breathed out, confused just as much as this situation was.

Metal doors screeched open to reveal Freed and Laxus joining in late to the party. As their eyes took in the sight of cloaked mages draped all over the floor, Freed mentioned, "Well, I suppose that they didn't need us as much as we thought they did."

"Yeah," Laxus mentioned, but his eyes were on Adamine. They were on Adamine and the little pixie sitting on her shoulder. If his assumption earlier had been correct, that girl could be Adamine's helper. What did they gain by sending them to this cave if no one but Evergreen was still locked up? His assumption just wasn't adding up. "Anybody want to tell me what's going on here, or do I just have to assume all of this makes sense?" He gestured to the unconscious mages of the floor and the girl perched on Mina.

"I'm so confused right now that I don't even know what's going on, and I was here the whole time," Bickslow growled out. He stood up. Plucking the little girl off of Adamine's shoulder, he held her in front of his eyes. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Pixie Dust."

"WAH! Mina, save me! Bickslow has that scary look on his face again!"

Looking at the visor over Bickslow's face, Adam commented, "But, you can't even see his face…"

"I can feel it! I know it's there!"

"This girl knows both of you?" Laxus wondered. His head felt like someone had taken it off his shoulders and spun it like a top. Nothing was adding up here.

"Apparently, and it was her mission to find Adamine," Bickslow responded.

Adamine just stood there blankly. She was just as confused as everyone else. Lancet Dragon Priests. Random pixie mage that knows Adamine and Bickslow. What was going on?

Freed stepped over a man's body and suggested, "How about we get out of here and try to figure this out somewhere else?" He looked down at the mages. "Perhaps, sometime before these guys wake up?"

"Uh, hello! Does no one see me over here? Hello! In a cage! Trapped! Can't go anywhere!" Evergreen howled, looking more pissed off by the second.

As Adamine glanced from the dungeon to the pixie held in Bickslow's grasp, she breathed, "I'm coming. I'm coming." It looked like this was another turn of events that just couldn't be helped.

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><p><strong>Thank you all for reading.<strong>

**Any helpful comments or ideas that might get me headed to the finish line on this story would be greatly appreciated.**

**Also, thank you so much for following. I really appreciate that, and I hope that I live up to what you hope to see in my Adamine Terra Series Story One.**


	22. Secrets

**Boom Shaka Laka! At last, I have figured out something to write about. Is any one of my Adamine Terra Series readers ready to start construction on the Magic Railroad? I am! I hope you are too.**

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><p>Secrets<p>

Dark eyes glittered in the dungeon. He'd been watching the events of the cave play out, and the longer they'd played, the more sure he was. Yes, that was her. She was the one.

She'd grown in the years since the dragon took her, but that was most definitely her.

A grin played on his lips. He'd been right to lead her here. The scent that he'd collected and covered in the cave had been of her mother. With just a few intakes of that smell, he had watched her eyes go heavy lidded. Fear had crept inside of her soul, and the dragon he knew lived inside of her had come to the fore.

Run away, it had commanded to the dragon slayer, and Erianna Lancet had run away. He had watched on with a glittering gaze as the dragon sealed inside of her had slithered up just to get a hold on Adamine's Fight or Flight response.

The dragon knew he was here, and it wanted to make sure that he didn't get a hand on her.

Snickering, his shadowy body rose. As he watched Erianna and her entourage escape through the last traps he'd laid, his pink lips mentioned, "It's only a matter of time, Firmalione."

Evergreen's eyes narrowed in on the pink haired girl as she flitted around Adamine. The girl had shrunken herself, and she looked just like the pixie she claimed to be as she danced in circles around Adamine's head. For some reason, Ever felt like she knew the girl.

Since she was from Lancet and Evergreen was from Lancet, it was likely. Their magicks were similar though, and that disturbed Ever to know end. She was top fairy in Fiore. No stupid Pixie could ever outdo Evergreen's grace and beauty. Even if said stupid pixie was graceful and kind of… cute. If you liked annoying, pink haired girls that fawned over adamantine dragon slayers.

This Iggy Mage looked like she'd seen a celebrity. She hadn't been away from Adamine for a single second, and it was getting underneath Evergreen's skin. Adamine was _her_ friend. Not that girl's. Getting an unnatural jealousy towards the pixie, Evergreen huffed.

Her chin lifted, and she snapped, "Are you going to tell us what you're doing here or not?"

"And, here comes Medusa," Bickslow snickered. When Evergreen's eyes cut his way, he hastily darted behind Adamine. As if she would protect him from Ever's wrath.

The pixie halted in her fawning over Adamine for a moment then spun around. "Human," Iggy commanded with a haughty expression. The tiny pixie's body grew until she had the form of a nine year old girl. Still wearing a nearly see-through white dress, Ignatia became a normal sized girl in a matter of seconds. "I already told you. I'm here to bring Adamine back to Kindred Spirit. My guild."

Ignatia hiked her skirt up to reveal something. Sure enough, there was a guild mark. It was a mark of two, crossing tribal scythes. The guild mark was in the same color of Ignatia's pink hair, hair that was streaked through with the same kind of brown hue of Evergreen's hair.

"And, I'm here to tell you that Adamine isn't going there. You might as well take your bewinged ass right out of here before I send you packing," Evergreen hissed. With a tone like that, Bickslow's Medusa comment wasn't too far off the mark. She tried to ignore that.

Freed tried to soothe the two bristling females. He mentioned, "Calm down, you two. We're not going to get anything figured out if you start a fight every time Ignatia brings that up."

Ignatia put her hands on her hips. She barked, "Exactly! Besides, you guys aren't even Adamine's best friend." Her thumb thrust in the direction of her flat chest. "I am, and what I say goes since I have sisterly ownership over Adamine."

"You have what?" Adamine responded with an emotionless voice.

"Sisterly ownership. Since I am your best and only Pixie Sister. It's my job to grant magical protection over you. In return, I own thirty percent of your time. That's what Master Catori said, and if Master Catori said it, then it must be true!"

"Who the hell is Master Catori?" Bickslow started in.

Ignatia's brown eyes shot wide. She gaped at Bickslow like he committed some kind of unforgivable sin then breathed, "You don't remember your little sister!"

"Little sister?" Bickslow's upper lip curled in confusion. Well, Adamine called it confusion since that was the only part of his face that she could see. Judging by his tone of voice? Yeah. It had to have been confusion.

Ignatia shook her head hard. "Masters Winry and Catori are not going to like that you forgot them, Bickslow. When Catori hears about it, I bet she'll steal a pirate ship and come beat your memories right back into your head."

Laxus tilted his head. Apparently, this conversation was both confusing and interesting. Turning from his lead in the dark forest, he asked, "You said you were from Lancet. Right?"

"Right!" Ignatia chimed.

"And there's a guild named Kindred Spirit that's after Adamine?"

"Right! They're only after her because she's a member. You see, our old guild got burned down by a group of men sent by mage hating noblemen. Normans despise us mages, and when they learned that the princess of Lancet was-" Evergreen's glasses slipped down her nose. As soon as the girl took one glance at the woman's magical gaze, her body shot instantly to stone.

"Evergreen! What was that for?" Freed barked. His eyes, eyes that had been zeroed in on Ignatia like she had the information for solving all the world's problems, jerked towards Evergreen.

The woman just snootily adjusted her glasses back up on her nose. She checked Adamine's thankful eyes before explaining, "Her voice was getting on my nerves. It hurt my ears. Problem solved."

Adamine felt like she would finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but when Laxus's eyes narrowed on her, she felt like she was a baby in the deep end of the pool without any floaties on. He was suspicious, and he was going to have her ass in a second. She gulped.

Laxus picked the sculpture-like body of Ignatia up from the ground. Even though his words were directed at everyone, he looked right at Adamine when he spoke. Laxus explained, "We'll talk more about this when we get in Onibus."

Several hours later and they _were_ in Onibus. After Laxus had made bedroom arrangements in a hotel, girls in one room and guys in the other, he hadn't taken his eyes off of Adamine. She had felt his steel eyes on her back through the walk in the woods, all through dinner, and now in the hotel game room. Since Evergreen refused to turn Ignatia back to normal, Laxus had locked the girl in the girls' room then decided to wait until tomorrow to discuss what to do with her.

Even with Laxus's eyes following her like a cat watched a mouse, Adamine had finally managed to shuffle Evergreen away from the men. In an almost secluded part of the game room, Adamine whispered, "What the hell are we going to do?"

Evergreen chewed briefly on her bottom lip. Her eyes were nervously checking out the guy's playing pool. Even though Laxus didn't look like he was paying them any attention, she knew better than that. His ears twitched at Adamine's hushed whisper, and he was keeping the two in the corner of his eye at all times. They were so screwed.

When Laxus was up to break the formation in the center of the pool table, his back was turned for just a single second. Evergreen took that chance to snatch Adamine up by the wrist. The two darted as fast as they could out of the game room.

They hastened down the hallways, and both girls kept their eyes peeled for a pissed off lightning dragon slayer to come charging after them any second now. Even thought that was out of character for the Great Laxus himself, Evergreen wouldn't suspect him to act a little strange when he was this suspicious of the two girls.

"We can't go to the bedroom. They'll expect that, and if I can hear through those thin walls, I know that Laxus can hear," Adamine explained. Her hand was still locked in Evergreen's grasp, and the two of them made their way down the stairwell as fast as they could.

Once they were out in the streets, Evergreen added, "He'll also be able to sniff us out if he tries, and what if he sicced Bickslow's totems on us? Oh, man. What are we gunna do, Mina? We can't let them find out about your secret." She pressed her hand up close to her mouth like she was scared.

"Come on, Ever. You're with them all the time. You have to know some way to get them off our tracks," Adamine encouraged. She looked up at the windows of the hotel. Right now, she could see into the game room. Bickslow was still in there, but Adam couldn't see Laxus or Freed.

"The best thing to do is go somewhere we can mask our scent and be in a place where they wouldn't think we would go to."

"Well, you'd better think of something quick because I just heard a door shut. They might be coming after us."

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" She waved her hand in a motion for Mina to be patient. It didn't do them much good. Adamine's leg was bouncing around nervously, and she paced in small circles. She had every reason to. If Laxus found out they were keeping something this big from him, they would be so, so screwed. "Somewhere I wouldn't go. Somewhere I wouldn't go…"

"Hurry up, Ever. I hear footsteps. What are we going to do if Laxus finds us?" She raised her hand up to her face and glanced around to find somewhere to ditch out to.

Evergreen thought that she had an idea to get them away until Laxus's deep voice stated, "That's a great question, Adamine. What are you going to do when I find you?"

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><p><strong>Laxus: Boo!<strong>

**Adamine: Holy shit! Where the hell did you come from?**

**Evergreen: Screwed! We're totally screwed!**

**(Adam and Ever fall to the ground clutching each other)**

**Both: Don't kill us, Master Laxus! We are but humble servants.**


	23. What's in a Name

**Warning! Violence and sadness commences in this chapter. If you are strongly opposed to reading about kidnappings and torture then I strongly suggest you back away slowly. Enjoy!**

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><p>What's in a Name<p>

"Laxus!" Evergreen squealed. She looked like she'd jumped clean out of her skin at the sound of him.

Adamine? Well, she was standing there with wide eyes. She was turned around and staring at the Great Laxus himself. Nervously, she wondered, "Oh, Laxus, funny meeting you around here. What's a guy like you doing on a street like this in the middle of the night?"

She attempted nonchalance. Leaning a hand out on the brick façade of the hotel, she gave him a smile that twitched with nerves. They were fucked. There was no other way to explain it.

Laxus scowled at her poor attempts. His scowl went from Adamine then to Evergreen. No! He knew they were up to something! Ack! Screwed. Screwed. Totally Screwed.

"Freed saw the two of you leave. I know you two are hiding something from me, and I want it out. Now." His voice was all bossy and Laxus-like. Brawny arms crossed over an expansive chest. The scowl he was giving the two of them should have cut them down to the bone.

Instead of giving in, Adamine appeared mortified that Laxus would suspect such a thing from her. Her face looked heartbroken. "Laxus, I can't believe that you would even assume something like that about me. Come on. I owe everything to you. Why would I be keeping secrets from you? T-t-that's just ridiculous." She was awful at this.

Evergreen gave Laxus a charming grin, but he knew her agenda. Laxus knew her like the back of his palm. He shot her down instantly with a look. Falling to her knees Evergreen blared, "Laxus, we can't tell you! If we told you it could put Adamine in danger, and we can't put Adamine in danger!"

Briefly, his eyes widened. The grey orbs widened then got right back down to business. Looking at the two mages, he barked, "Cut the bullshit, and tell me. That entire cave system smelt just like Adamine, and I want to know why."

On her position atop the cobblestone, Mina's nails sunk into the ground. They had elongated and were taking on the color of the stone. Evergreen could see Adam's skin cells flipping over one by one to the same color and texture of the street. So, it worked on more than just gemstones.

She appeared to be fighting some kind of internal battle with herself, so Evergreen cut in. Defending Adamine like the best and _only_ Fairy God Sister she was, Ever looked at Laxus. Her arms held Adamine like she was protecting her. Finally, she admitted, "Laxus, you may want to sit down for this."

Laxus's tall body sat down on one of the two beds in the room. Two brunettes sat in front of him, and he eyed them warily. They'd wanted him to come up here. Well, he was up here. "Spit it out," he commanded.

Already, Laxus could hear Freed and Bickslow breathing against the door. It was just a matter of time before Bickslow decided to possess the door so he could eavesdrop. Since Ever and Mina had begged him not to tell the others, Laxus agreed to come have a meeting in their bedroom. They'd better hurry up if they didn't want Bix to relay all the information back to Freed. Secrets didn't last long in the Raijinshuu.

Adamine rubbed her hands together over and over again. She didn't look like she wanted to tell Laxus anything until Evergreen nudged the woman with her shoulder. Taking in a breath, Adamine began, "Okay, about me being from Lancet… That's not a lie. The truth is that I'm the princess of Lancet. I'm the last of the original ruling family, not counting my two younger cousins."

Well, that explained his assumption about her being more important than the average commoner. What it didn't explain was the scent all over that cave.

"When I was five years old, a man stormed my castle. He cloaked it over in darkness, and everything that he got near died instantly. That man was named Zeref." Laxus just nodded. "Well, after kidnapping me…"

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><p><em>She sat quietly. Long ago, she had learned that speaking would only get you slapped. Now, as her eyes took in the cloaked man walking towards her, she just kept her trap shut.<em>

_Keys jingled in front her eyes, and even though she watched them-their every moved being monitored with a narrowing of emerald eyes-the girl knew better. Keys didn't mean anything good. They always meant something bad._

_Something bad like a bath, a bath in water collected from rain. The Caretakers, as they called themselves, would come and scrub them with cruel grips. They would be dunked under the water and scrubbed clean. Adamine had nearly drowned several times. She didn't think that she would ever be able to take a bath without feeling hands on her throat, oxygen slowly leaving her lungs with every gasping breath._

_Despite her own knowledge, the girl couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline every time the doors opened up. Every time, there was a split second chance that she could get away. No matter how many times she had gotten beaten and smacked around for it, she always tried to escape._

_Sure enough, she attempted it. Her body was already braced, and as soon as the five year old saw the door open up, she made her way for it. All the other girls had already given up any hope of escaping. She could hear their mocking whispers in the dungeon._

_"__Stupid girl."_

_"__She does this every time."_

_"__They'll kill her one day."_

_The child had one thing to tell those other girls. That thing was "They haven't kill me yet"._

_Her fists pumped in the air with her hasty sprint, but as sure as always, she was snapped up by the back of her throat. "What is this, child? Round Two Hundred? You've been in here for nearly a year. Give it up."_

_The young girl just scrunched her face up. She wouldn't give it up. Even as she flinched for the sure-to-come blow, the child knew that she would never give it up. She couldn't. Something inside of her just wouldn't let her do it._

_Bracing her skin for the blow, she watched the bigger man open his palm. He drew it back slowly, making sure that she watched every inch he moved. She watched. She always watched. The strange girl took her beatings with her eyes open._

_It wasn't that she liked pain. She hated it. She was scared of it, but there was something here. Something about this place, a voice really. It made sure that Adamine never let these fools take her spirit. They never would. She would see to it._

_The hand cracked against her face. Only one eye closed, and it was just because of the impact forcing her lid downwards. In the exact shape of a palm, pain pulsated against every nerve ending. She spat out, feeling a tooth go loose. It would be her third one. They already beat two teeth out of her head._

_Her tongue rolled around once her mouth finally shut, and after finding the bloody tooth, she took ample opportunity to spit it right at the man holding her by the scruff of her neck. The pearly white piece bounced between the man's eyes along with saliva and blood._

_Tears streamed down her face at the pain, but for some reason, she didn't bawl like normal. For some reason, she felt an uncanny amount of hope today. She would be free._

_The young girl didn't know how she knew it. She didn't know why she thought so. All she knew was that a voice in her head kept repeating, "I'm coming for you."_

_Even as the man swiped fresh slime from his skin, he chucked her at one of the other Caretakers. "Here, Zeref! Take care of the thing. I'll go retrieve the others," he spat._

_The body flying in the air was quickly snatched up. Almost caring hands held her, but she knew this hold. Out of the many fists and palms that came down on her body, this one never did. The child had been curb-stomped, kicked, thrown against bars, and punched so hard she'd gone into a coma. These hands had never harmed her, though. These hands were the gentlest, the most evil. The girl didn't know why, but in a world full of violence, kindness was something to be leery of._

_One of his hands reached up, stroking her skin where it had been slapped. Zeref comforted, "Come now, child. You must surely know you're going to die tonight. Why this rebellion?"_

_"__I'll never die. You can never make me." Her words were broken in by coughing. Blood spewed from old injuries. Nonetheless, her spirit never wavered._

_"__To be barely older than a baby and so stubborn. You must have confidence in your magic." He seemed to be talking to himself more than anyone, but the girl ignored him. Her eyes were too busy focusing on the cave system they were in._

_In the year she'd spent with them, she'd gone from cave to cave. These cloaked people were looking for a certain one, and now in another country, they must have found it._

_Moments passed and after a while, the girl was strapped onto an altar. She'd seen these altars many times before. In each cave they were done the same. Stone altar, stone walls, stone ceiling. The only thing that made this cave different was a massive diamond lacrima in the floor and an oculus in the ceiling. The giant hole in the roof allowed moonlight to pour in, and with that moonlight the voice in her head soothed, "I'll be there soon. Just give me time."_

Time_, the girl thought. She was running out of time. Somehow, she knew that. She was young, but she was smart and hardy. Countless girls had died in the beatings, and this one had taken the worst. Amazingly, she was still kicking. She would continue to kick. She would!_

_For what felt like the millionth time in her life, she heard the chanting. From her strapped down position on the altar, she saw the movement, the joining of hands. In a circle around the altar, they stood. Zeref stood at a podium. A stone tablet rested in his hand. He read from it in a language she didn't understand._

_Time passed. More time passed. The chanting got heavier, a weight of hefty magic filled the air. People had whispers of awe._

_"__This is it!"_

_"__This is Firmalione's Den!"_

_Firmalione, the dragon these seven sacrificial princesses were supposed to be able to summon. The young girl didn't know how. She was of no particular worth. If she was valuable she wouldn't be beaten and starved. She wouldn't eat the bugs on the cave floor in order to save herself from eating mushrooms that made her see things that shouldn't be real._

_Then, something changed. The air got too thick to breathe, and a powerful gust of wind began to swoop in from the oculus._

_Finally, the girl gulped, and she gulped loudly. The girls around her screamed when hands slammed down to hold their heads still. The girls kicked and clawed like how she normally did, and the girl joined in their battle._

_It was to no end, though. A needle rushed down towards their opened eyes. Eyebrows that had been shaved off for this ritual were quickly pressed on by the point of the needle. Ink filled their pours. It seeped into skin, and the children squirmed._

_Frightened screams and strange worshipping filled the air, and when the child's eye was forced shut for the needle to press along her eyelid, she heard a roar. It was the most beautiful one she had ever heard._

_With one eye open the child gaped. A dragon! A real, live dragon swooped inside of the cave. Through the oculus a massively spiked, dragon entered. Her body shimmered with diamond scales, and she peered around the cave with white eyes._

_A spiked tail swooped across the cave. It swept the occultists away. Their voices howled in pain, but none of them pleaded for her to stop. The dragon's mouth looked ready to feast upon one of the children when it stopped._

_It froze with its maw wrapped around the body of a girl then swung that head in the direction of the girl staring bravely. "You are not scared of my, little one?" the dragon asked._

_"__I'm scared," the girl admitted._

_"__You do not look away. You do not shiver in my presence. Why? I'm here to eat you."_

_"__Then go on ahead. I can't stop you. I just want to be free."_

_"__Free?" the dragon breathed. "You want to be free? You want to live with the wind at your wings and the rocks under your feet? The earth to bend to your will?"_

_The girl nodded her head feverishly._

_"__Then you will be free, and I will name you Adamine Terra."_

* * *

><p>"After that, I lived with Firmalione until I was about thirteen or so. I don't know. Birthdays lose their importance when every day is a fight for your life against wolves that want you for dinner. I was found in a city by a mage then lived in a guild for two years. My fiancé found out about the guild I was in, and that's why I ran away. Only recently, did I wind up in Fiore. The story pretty much ends there," Adamine finished up.<p>

Laxus ran a hand down his jawline at the information he'd just digested. Well, if Adamine Terra didn't just make his tragic past sound like a boy who'd simply gotten a splinter and thrown a temper tantrum, then Laxus didn't know what did.

"So, the cave back there?" he asked.

Adamine shrugged. "Not a clue. I freaked out before I could find the sacrificial chamber. There are all kinds of Lancet Dragon Priest temples. When nobility came into power, they purged the Priests for their magic based worship, so the temples are all over the world. It's likely that one was Firmalione's Den, but then again, it might not be."

Laxus didn't know how to respond to that. As a matter of fact, he barely even knew how to strike back up a conversation after Adamine had spilled her past out to him like that. What made it all even worse was that Adamine had amnesia. If her life had been this bad, and her amnesia hadn't cured her of that, then what else laid underneath the fog of Adam's brain?

"What's the last thing that you remember?"

"What I just told you. I don't remember my two year at Kindred Spirit. I know I was there. I know that was its name, but the people in my mind don't have faces except for one. I've only met one guy who resembles anyone from my memories."

"Who's that?"

"Bickslow," Adamine admitted. Her ear twitched when she heard someone shift against the bedroom door. Ah. The guys were listening in, but… Could they hear? Evergreen had put a basic sound barrier up after learning a trick or two about Freed's magic. Had Freed broke down that rune?

"So, are you saying he's a part of that guild you were in?"

"I… think so. He was the one who got me in Kindred Spirit in the first place. He found me lost in a city and took me in before guards could take me out. It makes sense when you put it with the fact that Ignatia thinks we're Team Dragon Soul or whatever." Adamine gestured to the stone statue of Ignatia. She was standing with her hands on her hips and her pixie wings flared.

"So… Bickslow's a member of Kindred Spirit, and Evergreen isn't from Fiore either. Alright, now that's cleared up, those creeps in the cave. Dragon Freaks?" She nodded. Ah. Laxus had guessed that much. It just felt good to know the truth. "So, what are you going to do?"

"About them? Run away. Like I always have. But, there is something I've been doing in every country that I've gone to. I want to do it in Fiore as well. I was supposed to do it with Black Pearl but…" Adamine's eyes took a spot on the ground and didn't move. Was that a shudder that rocked her body? Likely.

Laxus rose at the defeat in her big, green eyes. "Like hell you'll run away! We aren't going to let those assholes get away with fucking with you since you were five damned years old!"

Abruptly, Adamine jumped up. "No! Laxus, I have to run away. I'm not strong enough to fight all of them on my own, and if I take out a few, they'll know I'm Firmalione's daughter. They want to summon the dragon in order to liberate Lancet from Norman cruelty. I won't let them force Firmalione to do their bidding, no matter how bad I want Lancet liberated."

"Then what the fuck are you going to do, Adamine? If you joined Fairy Tail, you'd have the protection of the guild. No one could touch you!" Laxus roared. Evergreen nodded in approval of that idea.

No matter, Adamine shrieked, "And let Exile and Lancet burn down another guild! I don't think so, Laxus. I've seen what Lancet does to people that have something they want! Do you want to see your grandfather burned alive? Do you want to watch all those mages die because of a little girl who isn't strong enough to defend herself? I've tried getting help from other people, Laxus. It doesn't work for me! Just leave me alone when all of this is over with. I only want to find Pearl."

"Leave you alone! No damned way I'm going to do that." Laxus snatched Adamine up by her biceps. He held her tight in his hands. "Adamine, you're my comrade, and no one fucks with my comrades."

With her chin raised, Adamine jerked out of his hold. Her body fled to the window, and she hissed, "I only asked you to help me with Black Pearl. I didn't ask for you to get in my way!"

"You're stupid, Adamine! You leave this hotel, and I swear that I will come after you!" he shouted.

The window was jerked open, and a chilly breeze flew in the room. It kissed everything like the touch of a reaper. With one leg already out and her hands braced to propel her forward, Adamine hollered, "Then come get me, Laxus Dreyar!"

* * *

><p><strong>Who's ready for another friendly game of Who Can Punch Who the Hardest?<strong>

**Herm. Herm. Adamine has already fought Laxus, and she's taken out Evergreen before. That leaves us with Bickslow and Freed. Ah! So many possible scenarios!**


End file.
